A new look Alpha United football team tactically defeated BK International Western Tigers in the feature game of Sunday evening’s Haiti benefit match at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground organised by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation.
It was almost the same cast but this time around, the script was certainly different as Alpha, who lost to the Tigers’ 0-2 on January 1 at the Guyana National Stadium in the Kashif and Shanghai finals, won by a 3-0 margin on Sunday in front of a sparse and cold crowd at the world famous venue.
Meanwhile, Bakewell Topp XX and Pele played to a 2-2 draw in a game that failed to live up to its pre-game media hype.
The match also marked the return of prolific goal getter Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams to the Alpha lineup.
But while Alpha had ‘Awo’ back in their side, Western Tigers were missing their marksman Devon Millington.
The game was all about Alpha who immediately pressed forward with Abrams and strikers Edison Gomes and Dwight Peters.
Eleven minutes into the affair Gomes found the back of the net to send Alpha up by one goal and if Peters, Abrams and Dwain Jacobs could have found their footing the score margin would have increased three fold soon after. Abrams finally corrected his previous mistakes giving Alpha a 2-0 lead going into the second half with his strike in the 45th minute.
The second half only spelt more worries for the Western Tigers defence while Alpha’s custodian Ronson Williams hardly had any work to do as Captain Howard Lowe’s defensive lineup kept the Tigers’ hunters at bay all night.
Gomes completed his double in the 63rd minute when he collected a pass from Abrams and blasted a hard right foot shot that sailed into the ‘V’, way out of the reach of the flying Western Tigers ‘keeper.
The win was basically one of revenge for Alpha playing in a good cause as the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) plays its part in helping its friends in the earthquake-stricken Caribbean island.
In the opening game, Kayode McKinnon netted a double (24th, 64th) for Topp XX who allowed two late goals from Pele – Marvin Joseph (77th) and Konata Manning (91st) to prevent them from stealing a win.
Pele played with a man down from the ninth minute after star striker Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson was given marching orders by the referee. Richardson, who was playing his last game with Pele before returning to the US for duties with the United Soccer League (USL) first division club Carolina RailHawks, was evidently disappointed he couldn’t end his run with a bang after being given the straight red card.
Pele only have themselves to blame as their forwards, especially Joseph, missed a number of opportunities which would have seen the city team winning by a substantial margin.
But a youthful Topp XX side, backed up by some experienced players such as McKinnon, dapper striker Collie ‘Hitman’ Hercules and the veteran Troy ‘Boy Blue’ Nelson, could have done better with their few chances as well.
