Alpha United, Slingerz vie for football glory

History will be created today when fierce rivals Alpha United and Slingerz FC face-off in the League Genesis finale in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League at the Leonora Sports Facility from 21:00 hrs.

The Georgetown unit clinched their berth to the main show after defeating Pele FC 3-1 in the semi-final round. On the other hand, Slingerz FC edged Fruta Conquerors 2-0 in the other showdown of the semi-final stage.

This meeting will be the third matchup between the teams in the championship and the seventh overall. Presently, Alpha United leads the head-to-head count by a 3-2 margin.

Vurlon Mills
Vurlon Mills

However, the West Demerara outfit will be the favourite for the fixture after winning two of their last three meetings, with a drawn affair sandwiched between their positive results. Similarly, the last meeting between the teams resulted in a 1-0 win for Slingerz FC.

In terms of the numbers, Slingerz was the most balanced team throughout the event. With regards to their offence, the Vergenoegen unit has netted an enviable 31 strikes over their 15 game campaign which translates to 2.06 goals per game.

Delon Lanferman
Delon Lanferman

Midfielder Vurlon Mills has been the scoring leader with seven conversions for a team that possess scoring threats at every position.

He has been assisted by Julian Wade, Anthony Abrams and Dexroy Adams who have netted four goals apiece while Tichard Joseph and Dwain Jacobs have found the net on at least two occasions.

Defensively, Slingerz are even more impressive as they have only allowed in nine goals over their 15 fixtures. This equates to a daunting 0.6 goals per game compliments of a star-studded backline featuring Solomon Austin, Colin Nelson, Joshua Browne, Les Charles Critchlow and Anthony Harding.

On the other side, while they do not possess the statistics of their rival, Alpha United are more than capable of emerging with a victory. In the attacking department, the Georgetown unit sits on 24 goals at a rate of 1.6 goals per match.

Tourney top shot with 11 strikes Delon Lanferman has shouldered the majority of the burden while Kithson Bain, Daniel Wilson, Dwayne Lawrence and recently returned Dwight Peters has provided assistance.

On the defensive end, Alpha United have been imposing as they have only allowed 13 goals to breach their custodian at a rate of 0.86 goals per game.

A similar output will be needed once more from their backline Quincy Madramootoo, Wayne Elias, Sherwin Skeete, Phillip Moffatt and Clive Matthews.

In the opening third place fixture, old rivalries will be renewed when Pele FC opposes Fruta Conquerors from 19:00hrs. It will be the third meeting of the sides, with Pele winning the first matchup and the second fixture playing out to a draw.

In attack, Pele have recorded the second most goals in the event with 29 led by talisman Gregory Richardson who sits second on the charts with 10 conversions. Defensively, the youthful Pele rear-guard has conceded 18 goals.

On the other side, the Tucville unit has struggled offensively as they have only scored 18 goals in the event, with Kwame LaFleur leading the charts with five goals. From a defensive standpoint, the Trevon Lythcott led backline has conceded a disappointing 19 goals.

Winner of the knockout round will pocket $4 million while the second, third and fourth place teams will collect $2 million $1 million and $500,000 respectively.