DEFENDING champions of the Mayor’s Cup Football tournament Alpha United will not be taking BV/Triumph lightly when the two teams meet this evening in the feature match of a double-header card at the GFC ground.

The opening match from 18:00 h will see Buxton United tackle Uprising of Georgetown.

Speaking to Chronicle Sport yesterday, Alpha’s recently appointed head coach Mervin `Pug’ Wilson said his charges would be going into this evening’s preliminary round match with the intention of coming out on top.

“As the defending champions we will not relax and as a matter of fact the technical staff will be using this game to assess how the team is playing, bearing in mind that we are preparing for the first round of the CONCACAF Caribbean Cup which kicks off in Trinidad next month.

Alpha has been invited by the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) to contest the Caribbean Cup, being the number one team in Guyana during the 2007/08 season.

Recently, Alpha United’s president Odinga Lumumba had disclosed that his club has recruited several semi-professional Guyanese players that are based in Trinidad along with four Brazilians and a Canadian.

This he had said was to ensure that the club does well in the Caribbean Cup.

However, while the Trinidad-based players have already joined the rest of the team preparing for the Caribbean Cup, the Brazilians and the Canadian are still to arrive in Guyana for try-outs.

Wilson said he is not bothered by the absence of the Brazilians and the Canadian for this evening’s game since the other members of the team are quite capable of pulling off a victory.

Alpha’s line-up includes: Charles `Lilly’ Pollard (captain), Shawn Bishop, Kelvin McKenzie, Howard Lowe, Quincy Madramootoo, Dwight Peters and custodian Ronson Williams.

BV/Triumph’s starting XI will include custodian Linden Dennis, Colin Jones, Delroy Green, Rondel Gordon, Mark Glasgow, Keith Fraser, Dexter Bentick, Lloyd Bascom, Colin Clarke and Daniel Favourite.

The tournament, which is being organised by former national player and coach Lennox Arthur, will have over $850 000 in prize money along with trophies and will be held under the auspices of Georgetown’s Mayor Hamilton Green.

The winning team in this year’s tournament will receive $500 000 and the Keith Niles trophy while the second- to fourth-placed teams will receive $200 000, $100 000 and $50 000 respectively along with trophies.

Prizes will also be awarded to the Most Valuable Player, the Best Goalkeeper and the Highest Goals Scorer.

The final two preliminary round matches will be played on Sunday at the same venue and will bring together BK International Western Tigers and Uitvlugt in the opening game from 18:00 h and Sunburst Camptown and Pouderoyen in the feature game from 20:00 h.