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Fri, Mar

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After three years in existence, the North-East Stars footballers have won the biggest prize in local football — the $320,000 title in the T&T Professional Football League.


The “Stars” clinched the crown yesterday, coming from a goal down at half-time to beat Defence Force 3-1 on their Sangre Grande Recreation home ground.

With the victory, the new champion Pro League team reached an unassailable total of 54 points, with a match in hand against cellar-placed Arima/Morvant Fire on Sunday in the “Big Six” playoffs.

A proud North-East Stars coach, Guyanese James McClean, outlined that his players showed great character and fighting qualities, after finding themselves down in yesterday’s match against a determined Defence Force outfit.

“The team did not blow out Army. We had to fight all the way. We showed the character of what champions are made of,” said McClean.

“Army was in it all the time with a man down. They were proud soldiers,” he added.

By sewing up the title, McClean said, “the foundation has been laid for better things to come. The win makes me feel part of Sangre Grande. Like I belong here — a second home away from home.”

Despite losing key defenceman Anton Pierre in the fourth minute (sent off by referee Shane de Silva for using abusive language), the sailor-soldier combination shot into the lead four minutes later when Jerwyn Balthazar capitalised on a goalkeeping error by Michel Peters to net easily.

The league’s leading goalscorer Jerren Nixon (32 goals) got the equaliser, heading home a cross from the right by Kendall Velox, who dribbled two players before chipping in the pass.

Velox also had a hand in the second goal in the 71st minute. From a free kick he picked out Charles Pollard, who knocked the ball down away from ‘keeper Selwyn George.

Anthony Wolfe put victory out of the reach of Defence Force in the first minute of added-on time, tapping in a Kevin Jeffery right-side pass.

Yesterday’s victory put the finishing touch on a rags-to-riches streak by North-East Stars, who improved from finishing last in the 2002 season to third place last year, when CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh and Vibe CT 105 W Connection finished first and second.

W Connection stayed on course to finish second by whipping Arima/Morvant Fire 3-0 with three second-half goals — Jose Luiz Seabra (47th), Kendall Davis (65th) and William da Silva Oliveira (67th).

Last season’s champion team Jabloteh warmed up for Wednesday’s CONCACAF Club Championship-Caribbean Zone clash against Tivoli Gardens of Jamaica with a 3-0 win over Starworld Strikers.

Nigel Pierre (18th), Keyeno Thomas (54th), Peter Prosper (61st) and Cyd Gray (76th) were the goalscorers for Jabloteh, who can still finish second in the league by beating arch-rival side WCFC by two clear goals in their final league match on Sunday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.