The longest of droughts, stemming from since 1978 when they won the Mt'Dor Big 4 competition as a semi-pro club, ended on Friday when Neal & Massy Caledonia AIA captured the 2008 Courts Pro Bowl title at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella.
It was the Morvant team's first piece of silverware in 10 years as a professional team, and they did it in style, whipping Defence Force 2-0, and even having the luxury of wasting several good goal-scoring opportunities late in the game.
Even though some parts of Morvant have not had water for days, after winning Caledonia AIA celebrated as if the reservoir had burst. Technical director Jamaal Shabazz, the man who carried the team for many years, was given a drenching with the ice bucket by his celebrating players.
Chanting "ole, ole, ole", it was a rare opportunity for the players of Caledonia to celebrate, and for a fleetingly brief moment, Shabazz was at a loss for words.
"Words cannot describe how I feel," Shabazz said. "Before this, we used to win titles in the zone, but never in the big times like in the Pro League. We have never won a title since the inception of the Pro League, so this is a major, major feat for us."
Jerry Moe, a defender of note in his day, was one of the rocks on which Shabazz built Caledonia in the early days when they dominated the East Zone. Moe, now AIA's head coach, is convinced that a burning "thirst" for success is what led Caledonia AIA past Defence Force.
"I think the fellas were just a lot more motivated. After last year, everyone made a conscious effort to improve, especially in finals," Moe said. "I think we made up for what we did last year. But more importantly, it's the start of what we want to do this year. I think Defence Force played well, but we did our homework against them. I think that gave us the edge. We were moving the ball well, and they (Defence Force) did not move the ball too well tonight."
Defence Force proved to be a huge disappointment. On the other hand, Caledonia brought their A-game to the final and destroyed Defence Force in the wide position. Hayden Tinto had a particularly good game, while World Cup midfielder Denzil Theobald also had a good game in central midfield.
Central defender Charles Pollard won the Man-of-the-Match award also spoke of the defensive stranglehold AIA had on the Army strikers.
The Army team must have gone into the game in sombre mood after the death of their equipment manager Rodney Slater, who died a few hours earlier. But a big platoon of Army recruits packed the Manny Ramjohn stands and were loudly chanting: "We are the Defence Force. We are the Defence Force." After just six minutes, they were silenced.
It happened in the blink of an eye, when veteran midfielder Kendall Velox gave Caledonia AIA a 1-0 lead. Taking down Kareem Joseph's free throw in the six-yard box, Velox quickly shot the ball over the head of keeper Kevin Graham to put his team ahead. The "Eastern Stallions" should have doubled the lead in the 33rd, but Guyanese striker Nigel Codrington wasted Velox's pass when he cut inside and hit a powerful shot over the Defence Force goal.
However, it was Codrington's good work which doubled Caledonia AIA's lead near the end of the first half, when his attempted cross was re-directed into the far corner of the Defence Force goal by the outstretched leg of defender Cory Rivers. Immediately after, Defence Force had their best chance of a goal when Michael Edwards dived in at the near post, but headed Devon Jorslyn's corner kick into the side-netting.
The second half saw further Caledonia AIA dominance, and with better finishing they would have won by a wider margin. Both Codrington and Velox had the ball in the net, but both were ruled to have scored from an off-side position. Codrington missed a few, including striking a post after beating keeper Kevin Graham. And later, Abdullah Phillip arrived free at the Defence Force back post, but still hit the ball wide of goal.
With the game almost done, Defence Force had a late surge, but young keeper Glenroy Samuel was at his best to keep out Christopher Durity's powerful low shot from 15 metres. Strikers Kevon Carter and Jorslyn also came close to scoring. In reality, though, there was just one team in this final.