Adamant that only the capture of a national league tourney can justify a club’s status as number one, Alpha United head-coach Wayne Dover said his team is determined to retain the top spot in local club football.
Alpha United will lock horns with Slingerz FC in the final of the League Finale section following a 4-0 semi-final win over Fruta Conquerors. It will be a rematch of the League Genesis section which was won 3-2 by Slingerz FC.
In an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sports, Dover said: “We are very determined in retaining the top spot, the team has been through a lot and has been inconsistent which led to mixed results. The most devastating result to date that changed the mindset from lethargic to a more aggressive behavior is the result against Conquerors which we lost 3-1.
“Since then we have seen a change in the mindset and a different approach which led to us winning all the other games we played after that. It is a clear indication that we are determined to retain the top spot and continue to be the number one in team Guyana.
“Only winning a national league can determine your number one status, not knockout tournaments which are merely to keep teams active. The National Super League that was played before, we got our number one status from there as we won all five.
“Now there is an Elite League that will conclude on Sunday (tomorrow) and when that round is concluded, if we are not the winner, then I can concede we are not the number one team in Guyana.
“To date, we have only lost one major cup final to Slingerz FC and the way the Elite League has been structured, there are two segments. We lost the first one to them and now in the second segment. To say they have won the Elite League is inaccurate because it has not been concluded as yet. They have only won a segment which does not determine you are champion,” he added.
Questioned about his expectation for the contest, Dover said: “We are still expecting a tough game, a very close game, but if we should watch our performance from last year into this year, we were off but now into the later stages we’re peaking late which augurs well for us in the crunch time to win the championship.
“The entire group very confident in turning the result around in favour of us come Sunday. One of things that has improved for us is the experience in the squad. If we should take a lead and we will take a lead, this time around, we have the caliber of players who will manage the game from start to end. We have much more experienced now and the group manage better this time around than the last time.”
Asked about the status of their preparation, Dover said: “Preparation is going marvelous, we are very much happy and for us not to give a good account, it has to be something very catastrophic like many players getting red carded like one of the previous matches between the teams. We ask all our fans to come out and rally behind Alpha United who has been the number one team for the last 10 years.”
