Islanders eliminate Jabloteh.
T&T Express Reports.[/size]
CLICO San Juan Jabloteh may be just two points off the T&T Pro League lead in second, but their fortunes have not been good of late.
The latest demonstration of this was a 0-0 home draw at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva on Sunday night against Puerto Rico Islanders, which put them out of contention for a spot in the 2008/2009 CONCACAF Champions League.
Jabloteh required a win by at least two clear goals to put them past the Puerto Rican outfit, after trailing 1-0 in the opening leg of their playoff, two weeks ago in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
Joe Public remain the only T&T club in the competition by virtue of contesting the Caribbean Cup final, which they lost 2-1 to Jamaican club Harbour View, at the Marvin Lee Stadium last year.
Jabloteh were also booted out of the recent Courts Pro Bowl quarter-finals against Defence Force on kicks from the penalty mark, after leading 1-0 for most of the match.
A 90th minute Devon Jorsling item forced extra time, and Jabloteh faltered in the subsequent penalty contest.
This week in the Pro League, match day six in Round One, scheduled to kick off today, will be postponed until August 5, due to Sunday's international friendly match between Trinidad and Tobago and England at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Islanders qualify for Champions League.
By: uslsoccer.com.[/size]
TAMPA, FL -- Holding a 1-0 lead from Fabrice Noel's first leg goal in Puerto Rico, the Islanders held their ground on the road Sunday in Trinidad for a scoreless draw against T&T's San Juan Jabloteh to qualify as the third club from the Caribbean for the CONCACAF Champions League.
It was a very evenly contested match. First half they came out in the first 15-20 minutes and put on a lot of pressure looking for the series equalizer, but the Islanders dealt with it very well and Jabloteh never created any clear cut chances.
As the half wore on. Puerto Rico took more control of the game, particularly the midfield. The best chance of the first half came when a through ball from Cristian Arrieta found Fabrice Noel, who managed to get there just before the on-rushing goalkeeper and knocked it past him. Unfortunately, it ran agonizingly to the wrong side of the post.
The second half was again evenly contested with neither team creating any clear openings. But as the half wore on and Jabloteh became more desperate for the tying goal, they pushed more players forward, and as a result, won numerous corner kicks and free kicks with the help of some controvercial referee decisions.
The Islanders held strong and did not allow Jabloteh any clear sights of goal and got the result that they thoroughly deserved over the two legs.
"We are absolutely delighted after all the hard work the players put in that they come away with a deserved victory," said head coach Colin Clarke. "I feel this is a great step forward for the Puerto Rico Islanders and soccer in Puerto Rico. It gives the fans a great opportunity to watch the Islanders play against a premier international team in the next round."
The Islanders join Harbour View FC of Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago’s Joe Public FC as the Caribbean Representatives to the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League™ this coming August.
The Caribbean playoff was determined after the Islanders and Jabloteh lost in the semifinals of the CFU Club Championship against Joe Public and Harbour View, respectively, last year. Harbour View went on to claim the CFU Title by defeating Joe Public in the final.
The new CONCACAF Champions League format is a continuation of the Champions Cup format that recently concluded. The defending champion Pachuca CF of Mexico won their third CONCACAF Champions’ Cup™ after defeating visiting Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa, 2:1, in the second-leg of the 2008 Final at the Estadio Hidalgo in Pachuca on 30 April, and, therefore, capturing the series 3:2 on aggregate.
The Islanders may be joined by another USL First Division club via the new Canadian club competition called the Nutrilite Canadian Champions League. The Montreal Impact, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps are facing each other in a six-game tournament for a spot in the newly formed CONCACAF Champions League.
Along with a chance to represent Canada in the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League and hopefully a chance to represent the confederation in the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup, the first-place team will be awarded the Voyageurs Cup trophy. The Voyageurs Cup trophy, which has been awarded to the top professional Canadian team since 2002, has been donated to the Canadian Soccer Association for the new Nutrilite Canadian Champions League.
The Nutrilite Canadian Champions League kicks off 27 May at the new Saputo Stadium in Montreal as the Impact will host Toronto FC. On June 17, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC will visit Montreal and on June 25, the Impact will play the return match at Swangard Stadium. The Impact will then play the final match of the tournament against Toronto FC, at BMO Field, July 22.
The 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League™ will have eight clubs (MEX1, MEX2, USA1, USA2, CRC1, GUA1, HON1, SLV1) seeded directly to the Group Stage, while the sixteen remaining teams will be paired in eight home-and-away match-ups in the Preliminary Stage which will take place on 26-28 August 2008 and 2-4 September 2008.
The Preliminary Stage winners will join the eight seeded teams in the Group Stage that consists of four groups of four teams each. The teams in each group will play each other in a round-robin system during six match dates (three home games, three away games) from 16 September 2008 – 30 October 2008.
The top two clubs from each of the four groups will advance to the Quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League. These eight teams will be drawn into four Quarterfinal pairings to play home-and-away match-ups in February 2009. The four Quarterfinal winners will then play in two Semifinal home-and-away match-ups in March and April 2009 with the two Semifinal winners squaring-off in the home-and-away 2008-2009 CONCACAF Champions League™ Final in late April 2009.
The CONCACAF Champions League™ winner will qualify as the CONCACAF representative to the 2009 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup.
The list of qualified teams for the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League™ are: Belize – Hankook Verdes; Costa Rica – Deportivo Saprissa, LD Alajuelense; El Salvador – CD Luis Angel Firpo; Guatemala – CSD Municipal, Deportivo Jalapa; Honduras – CD Olimpia, CD Marathon; Mexico – Atlante FC, CD SC Cruz Azul, Pumas UNAM, Club Santos Laguna; Panama – San Francisco FC, Tauro FC; USA – Houston Dynamo, D.C. United, New England Revolution, Chivas USA; and Caribbean: Harbour View FC of Jamaica, Joe Public FC of Trinidad & Tobago, Puerto Rico Islanders.
Teams
San Juan Jabloteh: - Daurance Williams, Noel Williams, Karlon Murray, Sheldon Bateau, Robert Primus, Elton John, Trent Noel (capt), Devon Jamerson (Lester Peltier 68th), Ataullah Guerra, Gason Gregory (Shandel Samuel 64th), Peter Byers (Marvin Oliver 58th).
Booked: - Murray 48th
TD: - Terry Fenwick
Puerto Rico Islanders: - Williams Guadette, Cristian Arrieta, John Krause, Nigel Henry, Scott Jones (Rapheal Ortiz 67th), Edwin Miranda, Osei Telesford (Sandy Gbandi 60th), Jonathon Steele, Petter Villegas, Noah Delgado (capt), Fabrice Noel.
Booked: - Miranda 70th
TD: - Colin Clarke
R: Enrico Wijngaarde (SUR)
Puerto Rico Islanders win 1:0 on aggregate
