A Dwayne Lawrence second half appearance inspired Alpha United to their first win of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League, overcoming the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) 2-0 on Sunday at the GFC ground.
Unable to break the resolute Bourda side in the first half, Lawrence, upon entering the fixture in the 56th minute, assisted Kithson Bain’s 57th minute opener before finding the back of the net in the 66th minute to seal the hard-fought affair.
With the win, Alpha United moves into the fifth position with five points from three matches while GFC remains on one point in the seventh position.
The first period started brightly for the visitors in the sixth minute as Daniel Wilson rifled a powerful right footed shot from 21 yards out in the centre of the field, narrowly wide of the lower right hand corner after collecting a left side pass from William Europe.
Similarly, Stellon Davis almost provided the opener for the ‘Hammers’ seven minutes later as his glancing header from within the centre of the box, struck the base of the right post after collecting a cross from the left sided free kick.
GFC recorded their first attempt on goal in the 20th minute in the form of Kurt Johnson, who flashed a powerful strike wide of the top left hand corner from just outside the centre of the box.
The combination of an offside call and the right upright would deny GFC from taking the lead eight minutes onward as Curtis Kelman directed a powerful header onto the wood-work, after collecting a right side cross marginally ahead of the defender within the penalty area.
The second stanza saw Bain coming close once more as a 55th minute strike from the left side of the box with his favoured left leg, flew wide of the top right hand corner of the net.
With his team struggling to penetrate the robust backline of the home side, Lawrence entered the fold and immediately made an impact, delivering a right side cross into the path of Bain who slotted the ball into the lower left corner from within the centre of the box.
The aforesaid conversion seemed to knock the wind out of GFC’s sails as Delon Lanferman almost made it 2-0 in the 61st minute, racing onto a through pass down the centre of the field before unleashing a powerful strike from 21 yards out which was denied the leg of the ‘keeper.
Playing provider to the first goal, the nippy Lawrence quickly added his name to the scorer’s sheet five minutes onward by finishing into the empty lower left hand corner.
Latching onto the ball after Bain flicked it over the onrushing ‘keeper just outside the area following a lobbed through pass, Lawrence easily dribbled the final defender before finishing the ball into the empty net.
The score line should have then ballooned to 3-0 in the 87th minute as Lanferman, upon being in a two-on-one situation with Lawrence after racing onto a through pass within the right side of the box, opted for a strike instead of the pass, only to be denied by the leg of the goalkeeper.
GFC eventually created their best chance of the half one minute before the end of regulation time as substitute Kishawn Lovell was denied by the leg of the final defender within the left side of the box, after the keeper was caught off his goal-line.
The opening fixture of the night saw West Demerara outfit Slingerz FC downing Monedderlust FC of Berbice by a 3-0 margin to clinch their first win of the tournament.
Winner of the round will pocket $4,000,000 while the second, third and fourth place teams will collect $2,000,000, $1,000,000 and $500,000 respectively. Similarly, the point’s leader prior to the knockout stage in the League Genesis round will pocket an additional $1,000,000.
The event will resume on at the Tucville ground on Tuesday. The opening fixture at 18:00hrs will witness Pele facing off with Buxton United while in the feature showdown at 20:00hrs, home side Fruta Conquerors will lock horns with he Guyana Defence Force.