TONIGHT  is semifinals night in this year’s Upper Demerara Football Association’s (UDFA) yearend Christmas football championship with Topp XX facing Haynes and Lewis Winners Connection in the first game at 19:00hrs and the second game pits the unheralded Coomacka Mines team against the 2017-18 winners Botofago from 21:00hrs.

Now the highest seeded team in this final-four package, Botofago will be favoured to come out on top when they face upstarts Coomacka; but a resurgent Topp XX side, now seeking to earn former glory as one of the region’s top club teams, face an uphill task against multiple-time champs Winners Connection.

Last Wednesday the final set of preliminary round games were played at the MSC ground. In the first game Topp XX made their qualification good with a 3-0 thumping of Amelia’s Ward Panthers. The win for Topp XX was engineered by some positive play in overtime thumping of the Panthers who held their own, up to 90 minutes of play.

However, in the extra period of play Topp XX took over and through a 90 plus 4-minute goa,l Keon Hall rolled the ball over to a running Jamal Bentick who banged home for a 1-0 lead.

Ten minutes later Bentick again scored, this time off a free-kick. The Panthers goalkeeper sparred at the shot and as it was coming out Bentick ran on to hammer home goal number two for a 2-0 score.

After switching over, Topp XX again netted, this time from a nice buildup Ryan Noel exchanged with Bentick, and with the ball played inside Noel easily converted for the 3-0 win in the 90th plus 21 minutes.

In the second game Haynes and Lewis Winners Connection earned that semifinal spot with a 4-2 victory over Capital FC with a hat-trick brace from Marmalaque Davidson and the other by Shaquille Frank in the exciting win.

For tonight’s matches no doubt Haynes and Lewis Winners Connection will be tested by Topp XX in the first game. Davidson and Frank are the players to watch as they continue to get goals in this tournament. Topp XX will show their worth through their captain Ryan Noel and Carlos Grant who has been getting goals of late. With Ruel Williams and Travis Waterton playing at the back this should be a good encounter.

The night cap is what will be the crowd-puller with their scores of fans coming from the south of Linden in the Mines area. Coomacka who have reached their first semi-finals of this tournament will have no pressure on themselves and their coach Carlsdale Aaron is confident of a surprise.

Aaron when asked of his chances of advancing at the expense of Botofago said:  “These guys are very young and eager to play football. Everything we are going to put into it and once they execute to the game plan, no team can stop us. We showed what we can do last year when we came against the best team in Linden when we had Eagles United on the ropes, but lost on goal difference.”

Key to a win tonight will be the Coomacka midfield player Ateba Edmundson, Lorrick Daw at last back and goalkeeper Kellon Major.

President of the Botofago side, Colin Moore, said his players like the Haynes brothers up front in Shane and Jamal, Jashawn Moore in the middle and a compact defence system will allow his team the chance to get past this youthful Coomacka side.

Botofago Club captain Colin Moore offered this comment: “Well, we all know we didn’t start the tournament on a positive, as we lost our first two games but won the third handsomely and that in itself was responsible for us progressing. The players have been more committed since as this tournament was hastily planned and we are looking to grow one game at a time.”