Alpha United, GDF to clash in $3M final tonight … Tigers meet Pele for third place

TONIGHT, the Guyana National Stadium will be transformed into a battle ground, as two of the Georgetown Football Association’s (GFA) most dominant teams clash in the final of their 4th Annual Banks Beer Cup. 

National champions Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will square off in the much anticipated final where the winners will pocket $3M and the losers $1.5M.
The two sides that will represent the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) at the 2015 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championship are expected to provide football-loving fans with a final fitting for two of the best clubs in the association.
If anyone wants to predict the outcome after weighing in on how the two teams reached this far, Alpha would certainly get the edge, since the country’s number one club defeated Western Tigers 3-1, while it took penalty kicks to separate GDF from Pele, where the Army won 3-2 after regulation and extra time saw both teams locked 3-3.
Alpha had enjoyed a bitter-sweet 2014 and would want to start their 2015 campaign on a winning note, while for GDF, it will be the continuation of a tale on a team seemingly destined to great things in the New Year.
Coach Wayne Dover will want to roll out his usual star-studded line-up and he is expected to start with Dwain Jacobs, the tournament’s leading goalscorer Daniel Wilson, captain Dwight Peters, Ronson Williams between the uprights and Travis ‘Zorro’ Grant in midfield.
Prolific striker Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson will come off the bench for Alpha United who have shown that they have enough firepower to go head-on with the GDF.
The Army side are not known as a team to score a barrage of goals but rather for their rough-house style of play and for their hard-nose defence.
Denzil Thompson instils a collective effort into his troops which is shown nightly when they compete; where on any given night, even a defender can be the one finding the net as in the case of Selwyn Isaacs in the semifinal against Pele.
However, it would be more than interesting to see how Thompson and his men are able to stop Dover’s goal-hungry attack and an Alpha United team that can hold their own against the likes of the GDF.
Meanwhile, the third place playoff game between Pele and Western Tigers will serve as an appetiser for the thousands that are expected at Guyana’s premier venue.
With $1M up for grabs for the eventual winners, Western Tigers will want to regain some pride following their disappointing showing against Alpha United.
The West Ruimveldt-based team, with former national captain Charles ‘Lilly’ Pollard, Devon Millington, Colin Nelson and Joshua Brown in their squad, were reduced to nine men after two of their players were red-carded in the first half against Alpha United.
Pundits would want to give Western Tigers the upper hand but Pele, known as the ‘Pride of the Ghetto’, have been tried and tested in similar circumstances and came out on top.
Apart from the fourth place team receiving $500 000, prizes will also be given to the tournament’s top scorer, best goalkeeper and the player adjudged the most valuable (MVP).

(By Rawle Toney)

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