Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United to battle Pele FC tonight

Feb 17, 2013 Sports

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Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United will face off with Pele FC in the feature attraction when the action continues in the Fruta Conquerors/Namilco One Love Football Classic tournament at the Tucville Ground this evening, while Santos FC will raise the curtains in a highly anticipated thriller against New Amsterdam United FC.
Considered the top team locally, Alpha will be out to enforce this belief and will depend on the in-form Andrew Murray who has made the difference, scoring both goals, when ‘The Hammers’ breezed past Rhythm Squad in their last game.
The dapper Murray will depend on the hard working Dwight Peters, whose contribution has complimented Murray’s hard work.
Gregory ‘Jackie Chan’ Richardson is the new addition to the Alpha unit but remarkable a striker as he is, he will be hard pressed to break the shackles since the ploy of opposing teams is to shut him down.
He has played for Pele so he should understand their mode of play and it would be interesting to observe the keen competition that will unfold. He also has Travis ‘Zorro’ Grant another clever striker who has also played for Pele but has recently sought a transfer to the Alpha unit.
Pele will be coming out to prove that the loss of the two star players will not affect them to a great extent. President of the club, Cary Jacques has dismissed the view that his boys are weakened by the loss of Richardson and Grant.
“We have a competent mid fielder in Konata Manning and have recently discovered another midfielder in Mark Jahlan who will shore up the gap,” boasted Jacques.
He also has his bets on Calvin Shepherd and Okeny Fraser as well as defenders Keoma Gravesande and Solomon Austin.
Jacques said that his boys will dispel all notions that they are incapable of winning tonight because of the Richardson and Grant defection.
New Amsterdam United FC will attempt to emulate the recent feat against GFC where the latter team was sent packing. Once again, they will depend on Adrian Adams and his brother Leonardo to make the difference.
Ray Reddock will shore up the midfield position while Dane Johnson will be at the defense cordon.
The two matches are geared to provide high level entertainment for football fans and they will not want to miss a minute of the action.
Meanwhile, Conquerors FC stayed in contention for championship honours when within a 20 minutes span in a late assault, netted 5 goals to humiliate the Guyana Police Force 5-0 in the feature attraction of their quarterfinals match Friday evening last.
Dwayne Allen netted a double in the 83rd and 89th minutes, while Eon Alleyne (67th), Edward Austin (72nd) and Nathan Walters (86th) completed the onslaught.
The Guyana Defence Force was also in winning mode, defeating Beterverwagting 2-0 on the back of goals off the boot of Marlon Benjamin and Delwyn Fraser in the 2nd and 81st minute, respectively.
Watched by a fair sized crowd that included Managing Director of the National Milling Company, Bert Sukhai, the soldiers commenced the match at a hectic pace and it was not long before Benjamin latched onto a loose pass and netted the first success for his team.
Large pools that had remained after long periods of torrential rains hampered the players and on many occasions, what should have been advantageous after clean breakthroughs, dwindled to fruitless runs as the ball became stuck in soggy pools.
Royan Morrison defied the adverse conditions and powered a ball from outside the box just in front of the opposition’s goal but the chance was wasted after his teammate failed to take the ball cleanly.
Thereafter, Royan Morrison, Desford Williams, Delwyn Fraser and Marlon Benjamin joined forces to increase the lead but they were forced to contend with either a strong defence or soggy patches that thwarted their chances.
The soldiers battled valiantly and protected their lead even against strong challenges from the Beterverwagting lads.
With the minutes ticking away and the supporters of the GDF already in a celebratory mood, Delwyn Fraser placed the match beyond the reach of the East Coast team with a stinger that settled aback the nets.
Less than two minutes afterwards the shrill sound of the referee’s whistle sent the soldiers into celebratory mode.
The contest between Conqueror’s and the Police appeared evenly matched up to the end of the first session. Both sides faltered after receiving clear cut opportunities with Dwayne Lawrence and Delon Williams botching opportunities for Conquerors.
Despite these blunders, it was clear that the Conquerors were more superior tactically. Nevertheless, Police managed to hold them to a goalless stalemate at the end of the first session.
Apparently benefiting from the advice of their coach during the interval, Conquerors approached the second session with more vigor and vitality.
Alleyne started the onslaught in the 67th minute and his teammates took the cue; within a 20 minutes span the score line went from nil all to 5-0 as the home team entrenched its dominance and sent an ominous message to the other teams.
Fifteen teams will be vying for top honours in an elimination format over 8 competitive playing days.
The grand final and the 3rd place playoff are scheduled for one day after Mashramani day. All matches will be played at the Tucville Ground.

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