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Cellink Premier League
Alpha silence Sunburst Camptown, GDF arrest Pele By Franklin Wilson
Defending champions Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United is one game away from successfully retaining the Cellink Premier League (CPL) following their solid 2-0 win over Sunburst Camptown in the feature game of a triple header card on Saturday at the Tucville ground.
With the win, Alpha who were locked with Camptown going into that match at the top of the points standings with 27 each, now sits at the top with 30, one point ahead of the Guyana Defence Force who arrested Pele 2-1 with Camptown in third on 27.
The afternoon’s opening match ended in a 1-1 stalemate between Georgetown Football Club (GFC) and Uprising.
GFC has effectively ended their campaign with a creditable 18 points after being one of two teams elevated from the division one league last season. They have actually vindicated their promotion to the higher level and they can actually finish fourth if Fruta Conquerors fail to stop the rampaging Alpha in their final game on Saturday evening.
Conquerors are on 16 points.
The final game of the 2008 CPL season which is the main event to the Alpha/Conquerors clash promises loads of action. A win for either Camptown of the Army can see them taking the runner-up spot in the League or even challenging Alpha for the championship trophy should they lose to Conquerors.
However, last Saturday’s action saw Alpha behind a first half double from Anthony ‘Awo’ Abrams, firing his side to victory.
In only the 4th minute of play the nippy forward without strike partner Elton Browne was brought down in the box by central defender Leon Muir, who filled the position in the absence of Devon Dummett, but the speed and agility of Abrams seemed too much for him to handle.
The ensuing kick was buried with precision by Abrams who sent goalkeeper Maurice Prince to his left but the ball went straight on.
Camptown were studying the effects of giving up a goal so early when Abrams struck again. The opposition’s defence was caught napping and afforded Abrams a little too much space to manoeuvre and he accepted the challenge speeding past Muir, captain Orlando Gilgeous and company to bang the ball past Prince in the 7th minute.
Thereafter, Alpha continued to hold their own with a number of enterprising runs but Camptown responded with a number of excellent raids in the offensive third but were denied on at least three occasions by some high-quality keeping by Ronson Williams.
Alpha also had some missed chances, Abrams messing up form the spot in the second half when his shot hit the upright, while another attempt saw the ball hitting the cross bar.
But in the end Alpha stood large and in charge as they move towards securing another title in 2008, recently defeating Camptown in the final of the Alpha Football Festival to win the one million dollar prize.
In the main supporting match, Pele through a Solomon Austin 11th minute header looked well placed to take full points from the Army in their match up.
The Pele team had been the dominant of the two with some flat, ordinary plays from the Soldiers but with the introduction of forward Gavin Wilson for Stellon David in the 52nd minute, fortune changed for them.
Wilson added the nip and flair up front that was lacking until his introduction and working in tandem with Dwight Peters, who was kept quiet by the Pele defence, the two created problems for Pele whose defence at the same time began to play with less vigor.
Wilson nailed the equaliser in the 77th minute following a goal mouth scrimmage and when it seemed that the teams would have to settle for an equal share of the points Peters had other ideas when he banked a well taken shot past Shemroy Arthur with just one minute to regulation time.
In the afternoon’s opening salvo, Uprising had taken the lead against GFC in the 13th minute through a Travis James goal but on the next run down, GFC leveled the score when Michael Rowe rocked the nets.
Tomorrow evening, Santos (7 points) and Uprising (4 points) both destined for relegation to the division one ranks, will play their final game of the CPL from 18;00hrs at the same venue.
Saturday, which will bring the curtains down on another successful CPL where the champion team will be decided, will see Fruta Conquerors opposing Alpha United in the first game from 18:00hrs with the feature clash between the GDF and Camptown.
Alpha United’s custodian Ronson Williams brings off another excellent save against Sunburst Camptown on Saturday evening at the Tucville ground. (Franklin Wilson photo)
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