Alpha United to rely on team effort in CFU play

(ABOVE) Alpha United trains ahead of its 2015 CFU Club Championship opener against Inter Moengotapoe. GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- With only the four group winners earning semifinal berths in the 2015 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championship, Guyana’s Alpha United is looking for a quick start, when it opens Phase 1 play on Wednesday against Suriname’s Inter Moengotapoe. As well as crowning a champion, the competition’s top three finishers will secure places in the next Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League (SCCL). Last year, Alpha United qualified for the SCCL by winning one of the three, first-round groups.  If it hopes to make a swift return, at least one extra step will be required this time around. “Our main aim in this 2015 CFU championship, at this moment, is to qualify out of this group,” said head coach Wayne Dover.  “Then, we will take it to the next stage to ensure that we win our semifinal game, play for the championship and win the tournament.” The Hammer is hosting three-team Group 1, which also contains Trinidad & Tobago’s Central FC, at the Guyana National Stadium in Providence.  The other three groups are comprised of four sides each. Dover, an assistant coach with the Guyana national team, promises that his squad is not looking ahead and will take each game as it comes. “I would hope that the entire group delivers the things we worked on,” remarked the 41-year-old.  “We would like to ensure that everybody fires and we have a total team effort.” Leading Alpha’s challenge will be forwards Gregory Richardson and Kithson Bain, each a SCCL veteran, plus Guyana internationals goalkeeper Ronson Williams and defender Jamaal Smith. In 2011, Alpha became the first Guyanese club to qualify for the SCCL, outlasting Trinidad & Tobago’s Defence Force 4-3 on penalty kicks, following a 1-1 draw in the match for third place.