By Ras Wadada

AFTER 120 minutes of intense attack and defence at both ends of the pitch, and not a single goal, it came down to the heroics of Alpha United goalkeeper Richie Richards, whose brilliance, when it mattered most, denied pre-game favourites Slingerz FC a victory in the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) Elite League Finale.The victory by Alpha in the second phase Finale of the 2015-16 Elite League has set the stage for another meeting of the two to decide the overall Champions since Slingerz won the first phase

Genesis last year.
Had Slingerz prevailed last Sunday night they would have been declared National Elite Champions for 2015-2016. The GFF is yet to make an announcement on the date for the decider.
Last Sunday’s finale, watched by a fair-sized crowd at the Leonora Stadium, lived up to the expectations of competitiveness while reflecting a National football problem – finishing.
Both sides were guilty of squandering opportunities created, though Richards had an outstanding night within the uprights throughout the contest to ensure his side go home G$4M richer.
In the penalty shoot-out, Richards stopped the efforts of Brazilian Murilo Barbosa, Devon Millington and captain Tichard Joseph, who also muffed a golden opportunity for Slingerz when he struck the crossbar from the penalty mark in the opening half of the game.
Captain Dwight Peters, Andrew Murray Jr. and Delon Lanferman had no such impediments as they all scored on Vincentian Winslow McDowell to send off wild celebrations by the Alpha side and their supporters, while the pride of the West Side dejectedly walked away with G$2M.
There was also joy in the Fruta Conquerors camp after edging out Pele FC 3-2 for the G$1M 3rd place prize in the game which preceded the Final. Eon Alleyne opened the scoring in the 5th minute and Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson equalised for Pele in the 38th minute.
Four minutes after the break, the Fruta Boys regained the lead through Dennis Edwards and in the 69th minute Jermine Junor made it 3-1. Devon Charles pulled one back on the stroke of full time for Pele FC who had to be content with the 4th prize worth half a million dollars.

Head coach of Slingerz, Joseph ‘Bill’ Wilson, in a post-game interview was gracious in defeat, “I am not really disappointed in the outcome because I knew somewhere along the way we would lose a game. I thought the players made a very good effort and worked really hard. It was unfortunate we allowed the game to go into penalty kicks.
What was more unfortunate was the poor attempts we made from the penalty spot although we worked on this aspect in our final session before the game. We had the opportunity to finish the match in regulation time but failed to capitalise from the spot and in football you have to put away your chances or it will come back to haunt you.”
Wilson further stated that finishing has long been a National problem in football and he recommends that a lot of emphasis should be placed in that area especially at the youth level. In his response to the next meeting of the sides to determine the National Champions, Wilson said, “Definitely looking forward to that showdown with Alpha to decide the Elite Champs.
“However I must say I am not totally pleased with the structure of the tournament as a League does not have a final to decide the Champ”.
Alpha head coach Wayne Dover expressed satisfaction with efforts by both teams and showered praises on his goalkeeper,”It was a real tough game that could have gone either way but Richie Richards made the difference. He was just awesome and in the penalty kicks he proved his worth.
“It was a well contested game, but again putting away the chances created still remains a big problem”.
The head coach also declared that his unit will be ready for the next game against Slingerz to determine who is the National Champion of Guyana.