20th Annual K&S F/Ball tourney …
ALPHA United softened Sunburst Camptown while BK International Western Tigers clawed Pele in the two semi-final matches of the 20th Annual Kashif and Shanghai Football Tournament which was played at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, on Monday night.

The two teams will meet in the final for the $1M first prize, a trophy and replicas on Friday at the same venue, while the two losers will match skills in the third place playoff the very evening.

Both Alpha United and BK International Western Tigers won their respective matches in a penalty shoot-out which resulted from both games being deadlocked 0-0 at the end of regulation and extra time.

In the penalty shoot-out, Alpha United beat Sunburst Camptown by a 4-2 margin, while in the other semi-final; Western Tigers beat defending champions Pele by a 3-1 margin.

Konata Manning, Travis `Zorro’ Grant and Marvin Joseph were the main sinners in the Pele versus Tigers clash as all three missed their intended target.

Manning, despite have two shots at the goal from the penalty spot, was the bigger culprit. His first shot was recalled by the officiating referee after Tigers’ custodian moved off his goal line before the shot was taken. However, the goalkeeper, despite hearing the whistle, was able to block the straightforward shot.

Manning’s’ second shot was also directed straight to the goalkeeper who once again executed a safe block.

Grant, on the other hand, went for placement with his penalty kick but the shot lacked power and the goalkeeper was able to execute a clean save.

Joseph’s shot went wide of the mark.
The only Pele player to convert from the penalty spot was US-based Gregory `Jackie Chan’ Richardson whose shot beat the Western Tigers’ custodian comprehensively.

Richardson, the star of the Pele team, was marked in the game as the opposition closed him out with two or sometimes three players marking him, not allowing him to get control of the ball as he did in the team’s opening game against Santos.

The match started at a very fast pace with both teams seeking midfield dominance, but Western Tigers who reached the final once in the tournament’s history (2002/03) when they lost to Fruta Conquerors, subsequently asserted themselves and slowed the pace down, concentrating more on keeping Richardson out of the game and they were successful in the execution of their game plan.

This resulted in Pele never getting an opportunity to catch their rhythm while Western Tigers were content with defending.

The end result means that the defending champions (Pele) who also reached the final in 1996/97 versus Topp XX and 1997/98 versus Milerock will now have to battle for the third prize of $300 000.

The second- and fourth-placed teams will receive $600 000 and $150 000 respectively.

In the Alpha United versus Camptown game, both teams were very conservative in their approach but Sunburst Camptown, who have reached four finals since the tournament started and who have won the title in 1993/94 and 2003/04 fought too deep in the defence area and apparently were just waiting to counter-attack, but in their counterattacks, they were only countering with two or three players which in the end did not augur well for them as the end result has shown.

Alpha, on the other hand, were not patient enough and did not demonstrate any level of composure early on.

They created a number of nervous moments for the opposition but their finishing was very poor.

However, come Friday night, football fans and team supporters can expect an evening of entertaining football.

Alpha have reached the final of this prestigious tournament on two occasions first in the 2005/06 edition when they lost to Bakewell Topp XX and in the 2007/08 edition when they turned the tables on the very Bakewell Topp XX.