Tigers oppose NA United in marquee matchup

It will be Georgetown versus Berbice in the marquee semi-final matchup when Western Tigers oppose New Amsterdam United today in the fifth annual Georgetown Football Association/Banks Beer Knockout Championships at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground.

This matchup, at 21:00hrs, will pit the event’s statistical leaders against each other in what promises to be an evenly-contested affair.

Randolph Wagner
Randolph Wagner

Earmarked as the early favourite, the offensive minded Western Tigers side has lived up to their billing, recording the most goals in the tournament with 10 from their two matches.

In tricky winger Randolph Wagner, the West Ruimveldt outfit possesses the highest goal-scorer with five conversions while Darren Benjamin and Jamal Pedro follow with two strikes each.

On the defensive side, Western Tigers has only been breached once. Similarly, the New Amsterdam United side has been equally formidable on both sides. They have scored the second most goals in the championships with nine conversions. Speedster Jamal Butts tops their scoring chart with three strikes while Delroy Ferdinand and Keon Williams have recorded two goals apiece.

Defensively, New Amsterdam United is on equal footing with their opponent with only one goal scored against them.

In the opening semi-final, Santos FC will oppose Mocha-based unit Riddim Squad from 19:00hrs. A losing finalist in the 2013 edition, Riddim Squad will enter the matchup as the favourite owing to their experience and event statistics.

Offensively, the Mocha unit has netted eight goals in two matches with Sceyon Hope, Teon Jones and Sheldon Hope recording two goals each. Defensively, Riddim Squad boasts one of the better records in the event as they have only conceded one goal to date.

Santos, though, has been excellent going forward recording eight goals with Dwayne McLean, Andy Parvantan and Travis Fitzpatrick leading the scoring chart with two goals each.

Defensively, Santos will need to improve as they have conceded three goals over two games with two goals being scored against the backline in their last matchup.

Winner of the tourney will receive two million dollars and the championship trophy while the second, third and fourth place finishers will pocket one million, $500,000 and $250,000 respectively along with the corresponding accolade.