Tournament favourites Alpha United and Slingerz FC will resume the hunt for their first win in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League when they oppose Georgetown Football Club (GFC) and Monedderlust FC respectively today at the GFC ground.
The opening matchup at 18:00hrs promises to be an open and fast-paced encounter when Slingerz FC lock horns with the Berbice unit Monedderlust.
Reduced to a disappointing scoreless draw with GFC in their preceding matchup, the Vergenoegen giant must improve in the attacking third if they are to claim their first victory and will look to their star-studded roster featuring the likes of Vurlon Mills, Domini Garnett, Dexroy Adams, and Tichard Joseph to fire them to the vital three points.
However, the Berbice unit will be no pushovers evident by their win over the Guyana Defence Force in the opening fixture and their controversial 2-1 loss to Fruta Conquerors in the previous fixture.
They will attempt to maintain their positive showing in the tourney and will require another determined performance from the quartet of Travis Henry, Kevin Cottoi, Atlyn Brown and Kevin Layne Jr. to secure a positive result.
In an invited comment, Slingerz FC head-coach Joseph Wilson said:“The expectation is still to win and the only issue is the finishing. The players are not exercising patience and we are working to correct that at the training ground and hope it comes to fruition.
“As experienced as the players are it happens. It’s just the patience we have to exercise in the game,” Wilson added.
Similarly, Monedderlust FC coach Gordon Brathwaite said:“This is a learning experience and I am realistic. We are on a learning curve but we will fight. By pedigree we are not a big team but we will try and give a good account of ourselves after coming off a controversial loss.”
He added:“I hope the players will come out there and play football and I expect it to be another good game.”
Similarly, Alpha United will attempt to clinch their first win of the championship following two stalemates when they oppose home side GFC in the feature contest at 20:30hrs.
In an unfamiliar position after being held to a 2-2 draw in their previous encounter, the ‘Hammers’ will require a better all-round effort from the likes of Daniel Wilson, Kithson Bain, Quincy Madramootoo and Phillip Moffatt if they are to secure their first win.
On the other hand, the Bourda-based GFC team will enter the matchup in a positive manner after holding Slingerz to a 0-0 score in their last encounter.
They will now attempt to repeat the process against Alpha United and will look to the experienced trio of Shad Fernandes, Linden Pickett and Derick Carter to lead the youthful bunch from the front.
“Again it is the way like the other two games which we approached with the mind set to win. Unfortunately we didn’t get the result we wanted but it is still a favourable result because we didn’t lose the games. It has put us in the position we didn’t expect to be in but that’s the nature of the game,” said Alpa United coach Wayne Dover.
“It’s a game we must win, we need to keep the gap as close as possible. We know in such a long league that results could favour us as well because any team could drop points and the gap could narrow even closer. Right now it’s not the time to push the panic button, we still have 26 games to play,” he added.
The winner of the round will pocket $4,000,000 while the second, third and fourth placed teams will collect $2,000,000, $1,000,000 and $500,000 respectively. Similarly, the point’s leader prior to the knockout stage in the League Genesis round will pocket an additional $1,000,000.
Current Points Standings
Team GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
Fruta Conquerors 2 2 0 0 3 1 +2 6
Pele 2 1 0 1 4 3 +1 4
Monedderlust 2 1 1 0 4 4 0 3
Guyana Defence Force 2 1 1 0 3 3 0 3
Alpha United 2 0 0 2 2 2 0 2
Slingerz 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 2
GFC 2 0 1 1 1 2 -1 1
Buxton United 2 0 2 0 0 2 -2 0
