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Disappointing Alpha & Walking Boys draw 1-1, Suriname side through to Round 2
By Franklin Wilson
Disappointed fans and supporters witnessed a subpar performance from leading local club side Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United who fought back to earn a 1-1 draw with Suriname’s Walking Boys when the penultimate game of Group D Qualifying in the Caribbean Football Union’s Champions League was contested yesterday afternoon at the GCC Ground, Bourda.
Elias Afonsoewa
Fans came out in their numbers to urge the local side on but they were disappointed at the end of the 90 plus minutes, ‘The Hammer’ failing to fall hard on the Walking Boys who became the first team from this group to book a place in the next round of qualifying.
With one more place up for grabs, the fight will now be between the Guyana Defence Force and Alpha who will face off tomorrow in the final game of the group at the same venue from 16:00hrs. The GDF had lost their opening game to the Suriname number 2 side on Friday afternoon 2-0 and will be coming out with blazing guns against ‘The Hammer’ in what is anticipated to be a fierce battle.
Alpha, after finding themselves trailing with Walking Boys grabbing the lead in the 12th minute after a quickly taken indirect free kick just outside the area which was converted after three quick crisp passes by Elias ‘Yellow Man’ Afonsoewa, the Alpha backline were caught napping.
Alpha took some time to settle into competitive mode while the Surinamese knew just what was required to take them through to the next stage as they played much more compact ball.
The home team steadily built their confidence level as the game matured but took too much time to assert themselves against a side they lost to last year in Suriname by a 5-1 margin.
Alpha failed miserably up front and lacked the punch that they are well known for in the final third. From about the 30 minute mark in the game, the home side finally got warmed up and started to control the game with the Surinamese Boys content with occupying the defensive third with some attacks of their own intermittently.
Alpha’s goalkeeper Ronson Williams (2nd left) agonizingly watches the ball settle in the back of the nets compliments of a well taken shot by Elias Afonsoewa in the 12th minute. Defender Anthony Harding is at left. (Franklin Wilson photo)
Alpha’s dominance finally brought the required results with 5 minutes to the break. Midfield player Philbert Moffatt made a promising run down the middle getting past 3 opposing players before laying the ball off to striker Elton Brown who ensured that his shot evaded the hands of the advancing Walking Boys custodian to even the scales.
The second half as anticipated saw the local side upping the tempo but failed to shoot to target on numerous occasions. A multiplicity of chances were created, openings to shoot were created by the Alpha players but they failed to execute what was practiced, drawing the wrath of Head Coach Wayne ‘Wiggy’ Dover who said he was very disappointed with the performance of his team.
“I am totally disappointed with our performance because we clearly did not stick to our game plan and some of the players which we expected to raise to the required level, like Dwight Peters and Dwain Jacobs, the just fell apart.
I can’t understand that we were not taking shots to goal because we went through a lot of shooting drills and I think that as soon as we got the openings we would have looked for the shots but for some strange reason the players wanted to walk with the ball over the line and that was very disappointing.”
Walking Boys Coach Roy Vanenburg was elated with his charges performance noting that the game was a difficult one for them but they were happy with the result.
Commenting on tomorrow’s clash with the GDF, Dover said that while Alpha only needs a draw to qualify, the game will be a tough one for them with the Army side expected to come blazing after being wounded in the first game. “The team which is playing out of desperation to qualify will always be tough.” Kick off time tomorrow afternoon is 16:00hrs.
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