Caledonia defiant.
...Promise recovery from WCFC loss.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).[/size]
"I still think that our dream is very much alive and strong," said Neal & Massy Caledonia AIA coach Jamaal Shabazz. "We know what winning this trophy can do for us and our support in the ghetto community... I think we want (to win) it easy but maybe God wants us to work hard for it and I want it no other way."
Modern day sport goes hand in hand with money and politics but religion is still considered a controversial partner. It is not so much a case of whether God is a sports fan but rather whose team colours He wears.
Shabazz claimed to have friends in high places although, on Tuesday night at Malabar's Larry Gomes Stadium, it seemed that Pro League rivals 105 Vibe CT 105 W Connection were simultaneously blessed and inspired.
Skill, luck and a crucial refereeing error: everything seemed to be on Connection's side. The southern outfit are 10 points behind present leaders, Caledonia, but it did not look that way at times as WCFC ran out 3-1 winners.
The triumph pushed Connection to third place as they moved a point clear of defending champions, bmobile Joe Public, although Public have two games in hand.
It was hard to pick a favourite from four well taken goals. But Nickcolson Thomas' accurate half volley for Connection's third was as attractive as it was decisive. Caledonia were in full flow at the time and striker Conrad Smith had just rapped a shot off the Connection post.
For Shabazz's troops to then fall behind to such a clever strike from a wandering right back seemed to seal their fate.
The result means that second placed CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh, who have two games in hand, are likely to pass Caledonia in the Pro League standings in Sunday's fixture against table proppers, Tobago United. And Shabazz will have to play catch-up when the Big Six gets underway later this month.
North East Stars became the sixth and final club to secure their place in the post-season tournament on Tuesday as they crushed Police 7-1 at the same venue. The Stars join Caledonia, Jabloteh, Joe Public, Defence Force and W Connection in the Pro League's final competition of 2007.
But, if the first match of the Tuesday doubleheader provided answers, the closing fixture only raised doubts.
Three trophies have already been handed out this season--two to Connection and one to Public--and, for all Caledonia's endeavour and buzz, they remain empty handed.
Skeptics might have been pondering epitaths on Tuesday when, after just 11 minutes, a full-strength Caledonia were already two goals down.
Clyde Leon, primarily a holding midfielder, danced though the Caledonia midfield far too easily in the eighth minute. Leon's effort hit the upright but Caledonia failed to take advantage of even that reprieve as captain Earl Jean reacted first to ram home the rebound.
Pocket-sized striker Jonathan Frias doubled Connection's lead, three minutes later, as he twice faked a pass before drilling past Caledonia goalkeeper Richard Reynolds at his near post as the defence backed off.
The deficit could have been three, as Leon again struck the bar in the 26th minute.
Shabazz responded by replacing right back Sterling Arjoon with recuperating Guyanese striker Nigel Codrington after just 35 minutes as his team went from four to three at the back in a daring gamble typical of the attack-minded club.
"It was now or never," Shabazz told the Express. "We needed a player to do something out of the ordinary... We had to throw caution to the wind."
Codrington returned from a three month layoff with a knee injury to score in a 3-1 Caledonia win on November 7 but he looked understandably rusty on Tuesday and provided minimal impact. Still, the "Eastern Stallions" looked to have deservedly halved their arrears in the 39th minute but for a refereeing error from Gordon Maloney.
A Charles Pollard header was blocked on the line by Christian Viveros and lanky Caledonia star Marvin Oliver met the loose ball with a firm, goalbound header. Replays confirmed that the ball crossed the goal line before Thomas knocked it back into play, while Connection goalkeeper Joao Mansano had not been impeded in his failed attempt at an initial save. Maloney did not see it that way.
Far from castigating the match official, Shabazz claimed that the error motivated Caledonia.
"The way we had to bond together to (debate) with the referee," said Shabazz, "I thought we started to play together more after that... I won't lay too much emphasis on that decision because it brought our guys together so it was partly positive too."
Caledonia attacked with renewed vigour and Smith was unfortunate to see his effort strike the post, two minutes after the break.
But, just when Shabazz felt Caledonia were picking themselves up, Thomas kicked them in the gut.
Andre Toussaint, who deputised for the ill playmaker Aurtis Whitley, crossed for Frias who cushioned the ball for Thomas in the 54th minute. Thomas' expert finish mocked his humble post as right back and the fixture was effectively over as a contest although no one seemed to tell Caledonia.
Heads high, the Stallions kept up their pace and Connection could hardly begrudge them their consolation item, which came via substitute Dwight Peters in the 78th minute.
Smith was the fulcrum of everything positive from the Caledonia squad as he glided past opponents and cleverly linked up with teammates but there was no end result for the luckless player on the night.
"I don't know if Conrad Smith may need a preacher to get the ball in the back of the net," said Shabazz, who might have only been half-joking.
More intriguingly, Shabazz spied victory in the belly of defeat.
"We hate to lose but I am proud of the efforts made by our guys in the second half of the game," he said, "and we are showing now more than ever (that) we have what it takes to fulfill our dream... I want to take that effort into the rest of the season."
The domestic league battle continues to be fought in front of thousands of empty seats but Shabazz claimed that Caledonia are fast becoming the people's choice.
"When we move around the country, people are actually willing us to win," he said. "This is something that is really powerful... I am up to the challenge and these men are up to the challenge to make history for ourselves and our community.
"Whoever feel our heads down, they can feel so to their own peril."
The voice of the people, according to the cliche, is divine. God, if He is so inclined, has a few weeks to pick a favourite in the Trinidad and Tobago Pro League.
Teams.
W Connection:[/b] — Joao Mansano, Elijah Joseph, Jose Luiz Seabra, Clyde Leon (Leslie Fitzpatrick), Earl Jean (capt), Andre Toussaint (Atiba Charles), Nickcolson Thomas, Dwight Scott (Gefferson Goulart), Christian Viveros, Gerrard Williams, Jonathan Frias.
Caledonia AIA: — Richard Reynolds, Sterling Arjoon (Nigel Codrington), Howard Lowe, Sheldon Emmanuel (capt), Stephan David, Conrad Smith, Marvin Oliver, Abdullah Phillips (Dwight Peters), Charles Pollard, Walter Moore, Hayden Tinto.
