Pele, Alpha United battle for top honours as Mayor’s Cup concludes tonight

Mar 15, 2009 Sports

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By Michael Benjamin

Come by bus or car
Come from near or far
Come along one and all
All roads lead to the Mayor’s Cup football

After some two weeks of action-packed duels among the country’s top football teams, the weeds have been separated from the crops and the two best teams, Alpha United and Pele FC, are scheduled to ‘throw down the gauntlet’ in a game that promises the winner the prestigious Mayor’s Cup, $500,000 plus bragging rights.
Both sides will be fielding a star-studded line up and both coaches, Mervyn ‘Pug’ Wilson of Alpha United and Pele’s Denzil ‘Hunky Brains’ Thompson are exuding confidence that their respective team will come away with the spoils. Pele are the current K&S kings and so far they have destroyed all and sundry in their path to reach the finals.

They opened their quest for honours with a 4-nil drubbing over Victoria Kings before relegating Buxton to a 3-1 margin defeat. Their game against Campton FC in the semi-finals ended in a goalless deadlock in regulation time. Extra time failed to separate them and the match was eventually decided on penalty kicks. Pele came out victorious.

Undoubtedly, the Alpha match would be their toughest proposition to date and they will know that they cannot take this team lightly.
Pele, for their part will not relinquish their dominance easily as was demonstrated in their semi-finals game against Conquerors FC. Gerald Wittington, the lone scorer in the K&S triumph, has demonstrated a penchant for early successes and can be very dangerous at the initial stage of the game. He may be one of the seasoned members of an otherwise young Pele lineup but he has demonstrated that his age is certainly no setback. In the semi-final game against the Conquerors, he broke away midway into the second half of the game and slammed home a success.
The referee eventually overruled the goal. However, one must not ignore the fact that Wittington still had the verve and speed to score goals at that late stage of the game. He is indeed a valuable asset to the Pele lineup.

Commenting on his team’s chances tonight, Thompson said, “While I believe that both teams are evenly matched, it must be noted that Alpha has more players that have played in the Professional Leagues.”
He also said that many of the Alpha players comprise a part of the senior, as well as the U-23 National team.

However, Thompson does not regard this eventuality as a disadvantage as his players also enjoy some advantages. When asked of his game plan for tonight’s game Thompson adapted a cagey stance. “Once the team is technically sound the tactics will come easily,” he said.
He also said that his team would be playing in units. “The team that makes the least mistakes would win the match.” Thompson said that he prefers the South American style of football as against that of Europe. In this approach, the players minimize individual ball possession opting for one or two touches before passing the ball.

“Europeans engage in a ‘waist up’ approach to the game as against compared to the South Americans who play football from their waist up.
“I teach my charges that when the ball is in the air it is anybody’s ball but on the ground the person in possession has better control.” the lanky coach intimated.
He also said that he has studied the opposition and determined that Alpha plays a European styled football. “We are training to conquer their approach,” he said.
When asked to predict the outcome of the match Thompson said, “The team that makes the least mistakes will win the match and Pele is going to be flawless tonight.”

Meanwhile Alpha, currently preparing for international duties against Tempete of Haiti, has suffered a slight setback to their ego after suffering a 1-nil defeat to a President X1 side Friday night last. Notwithstanding this, their coach is confident that they will cart off the honours tonight.
They will field a formidable team that includes Dwight Peters, Dwayne Jacobs, Kelvin McKenzie, Emerick Williams and Dwayne Jacobs among others. Captain and coach, Charles ‘Lily Pollard would also be a major asset to the team.

The dapper Elton Brown did not play in the semi-final game and the word is out that he has been dropped from tonight’s encounter.
Meanwhile the organizers of the tournament wish to thank the many supporters and fans that attended the event.
They would also like to thank the sponsors for their unswerving support.
They include Digicel, Macorp, Courtney Benn Construction Company Ltd and Guyana Beverages Company Ltd. Kick off time tonight is 18:00hrs.

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