Tonight is the night of reckoning…
TONIGHT will be the night of reckoning as the curtains come down on the 20th edition of the annual Kashif and Shanghai Football Tournament at the Providence National Stadium.

Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) National League champions and one time Kashif and Shanghai champions Alpha United will tackle one time finalist BK International Western Tigers in the final of the 20th edition of the tournament, while in the opening encounter which is slated to get underway from 18:00h, two-time champions Sunburst Camptown will face last year’s champion Pele in the third place play-off.

After eight days of play which included four preliminary matches as well as four quarter finals and two semi finals, a new champion will be crowned and that team will take home the $1M first prize money while the runners up team will walk away with $600,000.

The third and fourth place teams will receive $300,000 and $150,000 respectively.

In addition, trophies, replicas and medals will also be presented to the winning team.

Alpha United who will be appearing in their third final holds the upper edge on paper in the feature game this evening, given the fact that all their players in some time of their football career represented Guyana at the junior or national level.

Added to that fact is the team’s cohesion, experience, maturity and a stronger bench of reserves than their opponents.

Western Tigers who has never won the most prestigious title in Guyana’s football calendar will be appearing in just their second final and will definitely feel that they have matured enough and are as cohesive as their opponents (Alpha United).

Offensively, with a goal difference of plus 10, having scored 11 goals in this year’s competition while conceding only one, is way ahead of Western Tigers whose goal difference is plus one, having scored six goals in this tournament while conceding one also.

Alpha firstly got past upstarts Grove Hi-Tech by a 7-1 margin in their preliminary round match, the highest margin of victory to date in this year’s tournament.

They (Alpha United then disposed of Fruta Conquerors by a 4-0margin in a quarter final fixture.

They subsequently went on to beat Sunburst Camptown 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after the two teams were locked 0-0 at the end of regulation and extra time in a semi-final affair at the Providence National Stadium.

Western Tigers also got past their semi-final opponents Pele in a penalty shoot-out after the two teams were also locked 0-0 after regulation and extra time. However, the score line was 3-1 in favour of the Tigers.

In their (Western Tigers) quarter- final fixture against Bakewell Topp XX, the Tigers prevailed and won by a 2-1 margin.

They had earlier beaten Victoria Kings 4-0 in a preliminary round fixture.

Alpha United’s challenge will be spearheaded by Dwight Peters alongside Edison Gomes and they are expected to get valuable support from midfielders Walter Moore and Shawn Bishop, as well as the team’s captain Howard Lowe who will be marshalling the defence in tandem with Kelvin McKenzie.

Custodian Ronson Williams will also have to be alert between the uprights.

Spearheading Western Tigers’ challenge will be Devon Millington and Dwayne Alli while supportive at midfield will be Phillip Rowley and loan player Shawn Beverney.The defence will be marshaled by Dillon Fraser and Shemroy David, while Derrick Carter will perform duties between the uprights.

Gregory `Jackie Chan’ Richardson in tandem with Mervin Joseph, Travis `Zorro’ Grant and Dirk Archer will lead Pele’s challenge for the third place.

Sunburst Camptown’s response will come mainly from Nigel `Powers’ Codrington, Telson McKinnon, Troy Prescod and Rishawn Sandiford.

Banks DIH Limited, GT&T, Beharry Group of Companies, Bakewell, Church’s Chicken and Mohamed’s Enterprises are among the main sponsors of the tournament.