Pro League rivals Central FC and W Connection are both confident of qualifying for the 2015-2016 CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) and Sunday’s final of the 2015 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championship despite having little knowledge of their semifinal opponents on Friday.
Central must face Haiti’s Don Bosco FC from 6 pm at the Ato Boldon Stadium on Friday 22 May in semifinal before three-time Caribbean Club champions W Connection take on Jamaica’s Montego Bay United in semifinal two from 8 pm.
All four teams topped their respective groups in the Group stage last month to reach the final stage of the Caribbean Club Championship, which will determine the Caribbean champions and the three regional berths at the 2015-2016 CCL.
Both semifinal winners will automatically qualify for next season’s CCL, beginning in August, and contest the final of the Caribbean Club Championship from 6 pm on Sunday at the same Ato Boldon Stadium. The semifinal round losers with meet in the third place match from 4 pm, prior to the final, to determine the third and final Caribbean CCL berth.
“It’s obvious we want to get to the CONCACAF Champions League stage,” said Central FC head coach Terry Fenwick. “That’s where the money is and the exposure for the players. It is paramount to us at the club.”
Despite the dark cloud hanging above the club due to unsettled bonus quarrels over competition earnings and injury concerns, Fenwick holds confidence in his squad which already boasts this season’s 2014-2015 Digicel Pro League (DPL), the First Citizens Cup, and the Rawle Fletcher, Akeem Adams and Kevon Carter trophies for winning each round of the league, and qualified for the 2016 Caribbean Club Championship along with W Connection.
The three-year-old Central have also reached the final of the domestic season-ending Digicel Pro Bowl on 29 May against 2008 winners Caledonia AIA after edging Police FC 1-0 in the semifinal round last Friday and heads into the Caribbean Club Championship on a nine-match unbeaten wave in all competitions.
“I’ve always had pride in my team doing solid jobs,” Fenwick said. “We have already had a great season and into another final (Pro Bowl), and this Caribbean Cup will be a wonderful achievement. We want to qualify, first and foremost, to the CONCACAF Champions League and we want to win the Caribbean Cup outright. I have every bit of confidence in my players.
“We’ve got little information on them (Don Bosco) but we are going to prepare well enough for them. While there is always an element of luck in everything, we will work hard to make sure everything is well prepared.”
Central, debuting at this season’s Caribbean Club Championship, topped Group 1 in Guyana with wins over Suriname powerhouse Inter Meongotapoe (2-0) and Guyana giants Alpha United (3-1), while Don Bosco had wins over Bahamian outfit Lyford Cay (10-0), US Virvin Island’s Helenites Sporting Club (5-1) and Guadeloupe’s Unite Sainte Rose (2-1) to top Group 4 in Haiti.
While W Connection, this season DPL runners-up, defeated Guyana Defence Force (7-1) and Antigua’s SAP FC (7-2) to comfortably top Group 2 in Trinidad, while Montego Bay United topped Group 3 in Haiti with wins over Guadeloupe’s Club Sportif Moulien (1-0), Haiti’s America FC (4-1) and Suriname’s SV Excelsior 3-0.
“We are confident that we can be Caribbean champions once again,” said W Connection head coach Stuart Charles Fevrier, who led the “Savonetta Boys” on the three occasions they have won the Caribbean title.
Connection, winners of this season’s Digicel Charity Shield, finished the domestic 2014-2015 season without a major title and are coming off last Friday’s 5-4 penalty loss in the semifinal round of the Pro Bowl to Caledonia AIA following an admirable 3-3 regulation time comeback.
But Fevrier stands confident that his players can rise to the occasion in the semifinal round of the Caribbean Club Championship against Montego Bay United on Friday to progress to the final and win the regional crown.
“I believe the incentive of playing internationally (CCL) will provide the motivation our players need to win this competition. We have always been consistent at the local level but want to play at the international level consistently as well.
“ I don’t have much knowledge about them (Montego Bay United) but Jamaica teams are normally good teams because their country is one of the top footballing countries in the region. We have always done well against Jamaica teams but we will go into the game respecting our opponent (however) more focused on our game plan. This final week it’s about preparing in detail in every aspect of our game.”
Montego Bay United head coach Dr. Dean Weatherly, a dentist by profession, is also confident his players will step up and deliver.
“We will go in blind, as in we don’t know what to expect (in the Caribbean final round) and we will need some time to make whatever adjustments will be necessary.
“Those three (Group) games in Haiti would have prepared us for this kind of football. The players know what is expected and we are confident they will step up and deliver.”
The reigning (Jamaica) Red Stripe Premier League champions are against Arnett Gardens in the league final and according to concacaf.com, club president Orville Powell stated: “We not only want to repeat as Jamaican champions, but we want to be Caribbean champions as well.”
Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championship 2015 Semi Final Round
Friday 22 May
Don Bosco FC (HAI) vs Central FC (T&T)—6 pm (SF1), Ato Boldon Stadium
Montego Bay United (JAM) vs W Connection (T&T)—8 pm (SF2), Ato Boldon Stadium
Final
Sunday 24 May
Ato Boldon Stadium
Third Place Match
Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2—4 pm
Final
Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2—6 pm