Georgetown giant teams will collide today in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League when league leaders Fruta Conquerors lock horns with fourth positioned Guyana Defence Force (GDF) from 20:30hrs at the Tucville Community ground.
Battling their way to the top of the table following hard-fought wins in their last two matches, the Tucville-based outfit will aim to solidify their position at the zenith of the standings and will require another collective performance from the likes of Trevon Griffith, Eon Alleyne, Jermin Junior, Delon Williams and Rafael Edwards.
However, the army unit will try to build on their recent win over Buxton United following an initial loss in their opening fixture and will need another gritty showing from their veteran combination of Delroy Fraser, Eusi Phillips, Delwyn Fraser and Selwyn Isaacs to ensure a positive outcome.
“After watching GDF in the game against Buxton, it was physical game and you can expect that from the GDF squad. We also saw the intention to play the ball behind the back of the defenders and use their pace and high energy which is what GDF brings to the game,” said Conquerors’ coach Calvin Allen. “We will do our preparation to conquer those strengths and counter and hit them with our brand of football. I think the two matches we had were tough physical games which is good preparation for this game. All in all we are in good place right now, we are on six points and need to accumulate more points in the early stages of the tournament.
“Like I said, our previous two games were ideal warm-up for the GDF game and kudos to the Buxton and Monedderlust FC teams, they brought out the best in us so far and we have to build from there on,” he added.
In the opening fixture at 18:00hrs, second placed Pele FC will attempt to continue their upward trajectory in the league when they lock horns with cellar occupant Buxton United.
Battling to a 2-2 draw with arch-rivals Alpha United in their opening fixture, Pele will attempt to make up the distance on the league leaders and will look to their experienced core of Gregory Richardson, Travis Grant, Omallo Williams and Shem Porter to pilot them to the win.
On the other hand, Buxton United will be desperate to secure their first point of the event following consecutive 1-0 losses.
The duo of Denver Dennis and Clive Andres have failed to make an impact for the youthful East Coast of Demerara unit and will be required to lead from the front, if Buxton are to be successful come opening whistle.
Pele FC coach Justin Bentick during an invited comment said: “We have to win because the last game we played we drew and that wasn’t the expectation. We dropped two points so to get back the three points we have to win.
“They are a fairly young team who don’t have the experience of the other teams in the tournament so we will be going to attack and pressure them and make them fold,” he added.
“With all the tricks and tactics we have, they won’t be able to keep up because we already know their weaknesses,” was his take.
Coach of Buxton United Herbert McPherson said: “We have to go back to the drawing board and work on our finishing. Our offensive play has been very poor, if you don’t concede goals then you can’t lose but if we can’t score then we can’t win. We are creating the opportunities but we are just not scored so we have a lot of work to do out our offensive play”.
Winner of the round will pocket $4,000,000 while the second, third and fourth place 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
Slingerz 3 1 0 2 3 0 +3 5
Alpha United 3 1 0 2 4 2 +2 5
Pele 2 1 0 1 4 3 +1 4
Guyana Defence Force 2 1 1 0 3 3 0 3
Monedderlust 3 1 3 0 4 7 -3 3
GFC 3 0 2 1 1 4 -3 1
Buxton United 2 0 2 0 0 2 -2 0
