First Citizens Cup Thread.

[Flex]

Jamali Garcia suffers broken leg but D/Force advances into First Citizens semis as Immortelle winners.
ttproleague.com.

Defence Force FC and Central FC - The Sharks are through to the semi-finals of the 2018 First Citizens Cup carded for July 13 after finishing Immortelle Group winners and runners-up, respectively, during Friday night’s double-header at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.

However Defence Force and Trinidad and Tobago defender Jamali Garcia will play no further path in the Tetron Boys’ (9 points) attempt of a fourth First Citizens Cup after suffering a broken leg early on during his team’s 3-0 win over Club Sando FC to top the group with on a superior goal difference.

Two-time former winners Central (9 points) defeated San Juan Jabloteh (1 point) 2-1 in the opening game of the night to overtake Club Sando (7 points) for top spot in the group and mounted the pressure on last season’s defeated finalists Defence Force who sat third with 6 points before kickoff against the Oranges.

But the Marvin Gordon-coached Defence Force, despite having Garcia whisked off by ambulance on 15 minutes and in a must-win situation, produced the comfortable win through goals from versatile attacker Dylon King, Hashim Harlim Arcia from the spot, and a sublime finish from substitute Reon Moore against a Sando side that needed just a draw to progress.

The Angus Eve-coached Sando fell behind on the half-hour mark when King, with what is becoming his trademark strike, curled a shot into the far netting from the top left side of the box for his fourth goal of the competition after goalkeeper Kelvin Henry had made a brilliant stop to blank Arica from point-blank range.

Arica, however, redeemed himself from the penalty spot when he wrong-sided Henry to cushion Defence Force in the 78th minute after veteran forward Devorn Jorsling was brought down in the box by Sando hard man Trevin Latapy.

Brent Sam had moments before skied a wonderful opportunity overbar after creating space for himself in the Sando penalty area, before Jorsling troubled the glove of Henry who dropped low to spoon the ball out.

Moore, who replaced King just over the hour mark, then sealed the 3-0 result six minutes from time with an audacious finish—hitting from the end line—to beat Henry who had, perhaps in anticipation that the speedy attacker would feed a short cross, rushed off his line.

Much earlier on the night, Duane Muckette and Keron Cummings had done enough to cushion two-time former champions Central before Jomoul Overcome Francois scored a consolation item for Jabloteh, who must contest 30 remaining minutes against MIC-IT St. Ann’s Rangers (who lead 2-0 before torrential rain fall suspended play last Tuesday) from 6pm next Tuesday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Muckette broke a deadlock from a free kick which beat Jabloteh ‘keeper Shemel Louison on 56 minutes after he was brought down on top the box.

Cummings then cushioned the Stern John-coached Couva Sharks six minutes later with a rasping finish from the right before Francois pulled a goal back for Jabloteh with a low drive past goalkeeper Marvin Phillipillip in the 76th minute on the other end.

But Phillip, a former Trinidad and Tobago shot-stopper, produced a brilliant stoppage-time save, putting Raymond Alleyne’s header over bar to guarantee Central a place in the semi-finals by the final whistle.

The semi-final opponents of Defence Force and Central can be determined by today’s (Saturday) Abercrombie Group double-header at Ato Boldon Stadium with Police FC taking on Point Fortin Civic from 4pm and eight-time champions W Connection against Morvant Caledonia United from 6pm.

The Abercrombie Group winners will meet the Immortelle Group runners-up and vice versa for a place in the final on July 20.

Police, Civic and Connection are all tied on 6 points, while Morvant Caledonia (3 points) can also progress, but must start with a win against the Savonetta Boys today before facing the Lawmen in their rescheduled game on Tuesday from 7pm at Hasely Crawford Stadium.

First Citizens Cup 2018 Results

Central FC 2 (Duane Muckette 56’, Keron Cummings 62’) vs San Juan Jabloteh 1 (Jomoul Francois 76’), at Hasely Crawford Stadium;

Defence Force FC 3 (Dylon King 30’, Hashim Arica 78’ pen., Reon Moore 84’), vs Club Sando 0, at Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Teams

Game 1

Central FC: 1.Marvin Phillip (GK), 5.Dwight Pope, 7.Kirston Baird (8.Akim Armstrong 62nd minute), 10.Keron Cummings, 12.Taryk Sampson, 13.Rhondel Gibson, 15.Kaydion Gabriel (27.Anthony Charles 79th minute), 22.Jameel Neptune, 19.Jared London, 24.Duane Muckette, 29.Kerry Baptiste (26.Dominic Douglas 79th minute).

Coach: Stern John

San Juan Jabloteh: 30.Shemel Louison (GK); 4.Nical Stephens (14.Tyrese Bailey 60th minute), 5.Raymond Alleyne, 10.Jomoul Francois, 12.Keron Bethelmy (13.Kristoff John 67th minute), 15.Dellon Jagessar (6.Josiah Baird 74th minute), 16.Jamal Spencer, 17.Sean Bonval, 18.Jevon Morris, 20.Kareem Baptiste, 24.Kareem Eastman.

Unused substitutes: 1.Christopher Biggette (GK); 6.Josiah Baird, 8.Xae-Pierre Defou, 22.Adrian Martyr.

Coach: Keith Jeffrey

Game 2

Defence Force FC: 25.Sheldon Clarke (GK); 3.Jamali Garcia (5.Jerome Mc Intyre 16th minute), 4.Dave Long (20.Levi Serries 74th minute), 8.Brent Sam, 9.Devorn Jorsling, 10.Hashim Arica, 17.Curtis Gonzales, 21.Aklie Edwards, 45.Dylon King (18.Reon Moore 66th minute), 99.Jerwyn Balthazar.

Unused substitutes: 1.Andre Marchan (GK); 11.Dwight Quintero, 16.Kellon Serrette, 24.Shaquille Holder.

Club Sando: 34.Kelvin Henry (GK); 5.Trevin Latapy, 6.Kemuel Rivers, 7.Akeem Humphrey (40.Isa Bramble 84th minute), 8.Kevon Piper (18.Aaron Kennedy 79th minute), 10.Keron Cornwall, 11.Russell Alfred (19.Quinn Rodney 53rd minute), 12.Michael Basdeo, 13.Shakiyl Phillip, 23.Nicholas Thomas, 27.Jayson Joseph (Capt.).

Unused substitutes: 1.Stefan Berkley (GK); 14.Kadeem Gittens, 38.Declan Marcelle, 39.Renaldo Mc Intosh.

Coach: Angus Eve

Immortelle Group

Rank Team MP W D L GF GA GD Pts.
1 Defence Force FC 4 3 0 1 15 4 11 9
2 Central FC 4 3 0 1 7 4 3 9
3 Club Sando 4 2 1 1 4 4 0 7
4 San Juan Jabloteh 3 0 1 2 1 6 -5 1
5 MIC-IT St. Ann’s Rangers 3 0 0 3 2 11 -9 0

Abercrombie Group

Rank Team MP W D L GF GA GD Pts.
1 Police FC 2 2 0 0 6 1 5 6
2 Point Fortin Civic 3 2 0 1 8 5 3 6
3 W Connection 3 2 0 1 5 3 2 6
4 Morvant Caledonia United 2 1 0 1 3 2 1 3
5 North East Stars 4 0 0 4 2 13 -11 0

[Flex]

Defence Force Garcia’s season snapped by fractured tibia.
ttproleague.com.

Defence Force FC and Trinidad and Tobago defender Jamali Garcia is likely to miss the rest of the 2018 Pro League season after suffering a fractured tibia and dislocated ankle to his left leg during Friday’s First Citizens Cup group clash with Club Sando at Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Garcia, who went to ground on 13 minutes, had to be whisked off by ambulance before his team went on to defeat Club Sando 3-0 to advance into the semi-finals as Immortelle Group winners ahead of runners-up Central by a superior goal difference.

“My [immediate] thought was my ankle is broken,” the 26-year-old Garcia recalls. “I heard the crack. I’m not sure who tackled me but my foot was planted when it happened.

“From the ground I looked down to my ankle and saw it was in an unusual shape. Even more I thought, it’s broken.

X-rays done at St. James Medical Complex later revealed Garcia’s ankle was dislocated but his tibia was fractured and not broken as previously reported, but the defender could be out for six months, bringing a premature end to his 2018 season.

Garcia was later transferred to the Port of Spain General Hospital where his bones were moved back into place in the ankle area without surgery and an orthopaedic cast was done on his leg. He remains warded at the hospital awaiting further prognosis.

“I was told the doctor will be in tomorrow (Sunday) morning. So I’m waiting to have a better idea of how long I might be out (of action).

“This is a downer for me because as a footballer you want to always be playing. But I am confident I will do what’s necessary to return stronger.”

Defence Force have three wins from four games this season and Garcia believes his teammates can do the necessary to continue the “great start” to the season.

The Tetron Boys, coached by Marvin Gordon, are two wins away from a fourth First Citizens Cup and could know their semi-final opponents after today’s (Saturday) Abercrombie Group double-header at Ato Boldon Stadium with Police FC taking on Point Fortin Civic from 4pm and W Connection against Morvant Caledonia United from 6pm.

[Flex]

Morv’t Caledonia stun Connection but must escape Police to reach First Citizens semis
ttproleague.com.

First-half goals by Kareem Joseph and Jair Edwards lifted Morvant Caledonia United within a draw of progressing to the semi-finals of the 2018 First Citizens Cup after defeating holders and eight-time champions W Connection 2-1 in the second game of an Abercrombie Group double-header at Ato Boldon Stadium on Saturday.

Morvant Caledonia’s faith however lies in their own hands, as a loss against leaders Police FC in their rescheduled clash from 7pm on Tuesday at Hasely Crawford Stadium will introduce the tiebreaker to determine which team will advance against Immortelle Group winners Defence Force FC on July 13, with Connection tied on 6 points.

Point Fortin Civic are also on six points but Reynold Carrington’s side’s chances of progressing were dashed by a 3-0 defeat against Police in the first game of Saturday’s double-header in Couva. The result reduced Civic’s goal difference to 0, while Morvant Caledonia and Connection are ahead with +2 and +1 respectively.

Police, as it stands, with maximum nine points and a superior goal difference (+8), will progress as Abercrombie Group winners to face Immortelle Group runners-up Central FC in the semis.

Todd Ryan and Christian Thomas cushioned the Richard Hood-coached Police early in the first half before Kareem Freitas completed the third straight win with a late penalty.

Civic’s custodian Miles Goodman was left beaten by a deflected Ryan strike after just five minutes against the Lawmen.

Thomas then doubled the Police’s lead with his first top-flight goal for the Lawmen on 19 minutes after Goodman had made a clearance to his feet above the box.

Thomas, a wide attacker who joined from Malvern, was denied a second by the post as Police squandered further chances in the half.

Civic forward Nion Lammy was also denied by the upright seven minutes into the second half as his side gave everything in search of a comeback.

But Freitas, for his fourth goal of the tournament, put the match out of the Point Fortin club’s reach three minutes from the end when he hit down the middle from the spot to beat Goodman after referee Nicholai Nyron gave a penalty for handball in the box by Jamal John.

Moments earlier, Hughtun Hector had stepped up to the spot on the opposite end after Akinola Gregory was brought down in the area by Police defender Ryan O’Neil, but the former Trinidad and Tobago midfielder skied his attempt overbar with current national goalkeeper Adrian Foncette between the sticks for Police.

In the second game of the afternoon referee Cecile Hinds was also forced to award a penalty to either side, but it was some fine goalkeeping and possible man-of-the-match performance by Morvant Caledonia’s Terrence Lewis that stood out against his former club, Connection.

Joseph (K), Morvant Caledonia’s veteran utility player and captain, took advantage of his team’s chance from the spot when he fired sharply beyond Connection goalkeeper Julani Archibald for a 1-0 lead on 26 minutes after lightening-paced attacker Quincy Ballah was bundled to ground in the box by two defenders.

Edwards doubled Morvant Caledonia’s lead 2-0 two minutes from the break when he struck past Archibald from close up after a Ballah effort was kept out.

Morvant Caledonia with their fierce attacking could have gone in with at the half with an even bigger advantage had it not been for the intervention of Archibald who had done brilliantly to deny Sedale Mc Lean twice in the first half.

Connection however sliced the deficit six minutes into the second half through Marcus Joseph who entered play at the restart and had been denied by the post less than a minute on the pitch.

Lewis, who had denied Connection forward Adan Noel in the 40th minute, was unable to stop Joseph (M) from celebrating his fourth goal of the tournament with a powerful strike. But the Morvant Caledonia ‘keeper matched a penalty strike by Connection captain Gerard Williams four minutes later and preserved his team’s 2-1 result with a crucial save near the final whistle.

First Citizens Cup 2018 Results

Police FC 3 (Todd Ryan 5’, Christian Thomas 19’, Kareem Freitas 87’ pen.) v Point Fortin Civic 0, at Ato Boldon Stadium;

W Connection 1 (Marcus Joseph 51’) vs Morvant Caledonia United 2 (Kareem Joseph 26’ pen., Jair Edwards 43’), at Ato Boldon Stadium.

Teams

Game 1

Police FC: 18.Adrian Foncette (GK) (Capt.); 3.Ryan O’Neil, 5.Kenaz Williams, 7.Kareem Perry (33.Kemron Purcell 59th minute), 8.Kurdell Brathwaite, 9.Jameel Perry (32.Keion Wilson 71st minute), 10.Kareem Freitas, 12.Nequan Caruth, 15.Christian Thomas, 21.Todd Ryan (25.Kaashif Thomas 65th minute), 29.Clevon Mc Fee.

Unused substitutes: 22.Theon Browne (GK); 4.Kadeem Boyce, 11.Micah Lewis, 36.Kadeem Riley.

Coach: Richard Hood

Point Fortin Civic: 22.Miles Goodman (GK); 7.Hughtun Hector (Capt.), 8.Jamal John, 11.Akeem Redhead (25.Shaquille Dublin 69th minute), 14.Shaquille John (24.Akinola Gregory 30th minute), 19.Nathaniel Garcia, 20.Bevon Bass, 21.Ronell Paul, 30.Nion Lammy, 33.Justin Sadoo, 99.Steven Joseph (9.Jared Bennett 84th minute).

Unused substitutes: 1.Jasse Aguillerra (GK); 5.Justin Cornwall, 15.Nideon Noel, 26.Jeremiah Kesar.

Coach: Reynold Carrington

Referee: Nicholai Nyron

Game 2

W Connection: 18.Julani Archibald (GK), 2.Kurt Frederick, 3.Gerard Williams, 4.Maurice Ford, 6.Kevon Goddard (8.Jameel Antoine 69th minute), 9.Kadeem Corbin, 11.Adan Noel (99.Marcus Joseph 46th minute), 15.Otev Lawrence, 19.Briel Thomas, 20.Daniel Diaz, 23.Kennedy Hinkson.

Unused substitutes: 33.Jason Belfon (GK); 34.Cephas St. Rose.

Technical Director/Head Coach: Stuart Charles-Fevrier

Morvant Caledonia United: 1.Terrence Lewis (GK); 3.Richard Williams, 5.Joshua Sylvester, 9.Sedale Mc Lean (10.Sheldon Holder 84th minute), 11.Quincy Ballah (16.Travell Edwards 71st minute), 12.Kareem Joseph (Capt.), 15.Malik Mieres, 17.Kerry Daniel, 22.Joshua Alexander, 26.Jair Edwards (19.Ronaldo Francois 77th minute), 28.Jomokie Cassimy.

Unused substitutes: 30.Dejourn Charles (GK); 23.Osaze Springer, 25.Joshua Martin.

Coach: Jerry Moe

Referee: Cecile Hinds

Immortelle Group

Rank Team MP W D L GF GA GD Pts.
1 Defence Force FC 4 3 0 1 15 4 11 9
2 Central FC 4 3 0 1 7 4 3 9
3 Club Sando 4 2 1 1 4 4 0 7
4 San Juan Jabloteh 3 0 1 2 1 6 -5 1
5 MIC-IT St. Ann’s Rangers 3 0 0 3 2 11 -9 0

Abercrombie Group

Rank Team MP W D L GF GA GD Pts.
1 Police FC 3 3 0 0 9 1 8 9
2 Morvant Caledonia United 3 2 0 1 5 3 2 6
3 W Connection 4 2 0 2 6 5 1 6
4 Point Fortin Civic 4 2 0 2 8 8 0 6
5 North East Stars 4 0 0 4 2 13 -11 0

[Flex]

Renaldo Francois, Sedale Mclean fire Morv’t Caledonia into First Citizens semis clash with D/Force.
ttproleague.com.

Sedale Mc Lean scored one and set up another turned in by Renaldo Francois to earn two-time former First Citizens Cup champions Morvant Caledonia United a 2-0 win over a second-string Police FC outfit on Tuesday night to reach the 2018 semi-finals against last season’s defeated finalists Defence Force FC.

Francois put the 2011 and 2012 champions, Morvant Caledonia, in front on 13 minutes in the rescheduled fixture at the Hasely Crawford Stadium when he turned Mc Lean’s right side cross past Theon Browne before Mc Lean drilled a low shot beyond the Police second choice ‘keeper and into the far netting in the 35th minute for a 2-0 cushion which lasted to the final whistle.

Morvant Caledonia (9 points), who virtually knocked out W Connection last Saturday after edging the holders and eight-time champions 2-1, finished second behind Abercrombie Group winners Police FC only by goal difference.

The Jerry Moe-coached Morvant Caledonia must now face Immortelle Group winners and 2002, 2009 and 2016 champions Defence Force in the first match of a semi-final double-header at the Hasely Crawford Stadium from 6pm on Friday before Police FC and Immortelle Group runners-up Central FC, champions of 2013 and 2014, lock horns from 8pm.

Police head coach Richard Hood, certain his team will progress as group winners due to their superior goal difference, used the Morvant Caledonia contest to field a number of non-starters, among them, Travis Joseph, Keion Wilson and Kemron Purcell and the return of left-back Dexter Alleyne and former Pro League top scorer Makesi Lewis.

Lewis, who missed the last two seasons as a result of a broken leg, was used off the bench, but it was forward Wilson, toting the captaincy on the night, who failed to fire the Lawmen in front after just five minutes.

Morvant Caledonia goalkeeper Terrence Lewis was brilliant, getting glove to the forward’s point blank effort before defender Malik Mieres charged down the rebound effort by Kadeem Riley.

The Morvant Caledonia shot-stopper was on top of his game whenever called upon, even producing a superb reflex-save on the half-hour mark before Mc Lean doubled the lead on the other end.

Francois, however, could have ended the night with a double to his name but was denied by the upright in the 78th minute following a neat feed by substitute Sheldon Holder before a rebound effort by substitute Joshua Alexander was blocked out by the Police defence.

Another chance fell to Francois two minutes later but smashed a left-footed strike overbar from just inside the penalty area.

Earlier on the night, MIC-IT St. Ann’s Rangers celebrated a 2-1 win over San Juan Jabloteh after contesting the remaining 30 minutes of their contest which was suspended on the hour mark due to torrential rain in the capital city on July 1.

The contest only stood a matter of formality as both sides were unable to avoid a bottom-two finish.

Sean Bonval pulled a goal back for Jabloteh in the 70th minute but the Adrian Romain coached-Rangers, despite a failed penalty strike by Jamal Gay two minutes later, held on for their first win of the season after four attempts thanks to first half goals by Saleem Henry (40) and Allister Bernard (42) on July 1.

First Citizens Cup 2018 Results

San Juan Jabloteh 1 (Sean Bonval 70’) vs MIC-IT St. Ann’s Rangers 2 (Saleem Henry 40’ pen., Allister Bernard 42’), at Hasely Crawford Stadium;

Morvant Caledonia United 2 (Renaldo Francois 13’, Sedale Mc Lean 35’) v Police FC 0, at Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Semi-Final Round Upcoming Games.

(Friday 13 July 2018)

Defence Force vs Morvant Caledonia United, 6pm at Hasely Crawford Stadium;

Police FC vs Central FC, 8pm at Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Teams

Morvant Caledonia United: 1.Terrence Lewis (GK) (Capt.); 3.Richard Williams, 5.Joshua Sylvester, 9.Sedale Mc Lean (10.Sheldon Holder 74th minute), 11.Quincy Ballah (23.Osaze Springer 66th minute), 12.Kareem Joseph (22.Joshua Alexander 66th minute), 15.Malik Mieres, 16.Travell Edwards, 17.Kerry Daniel, 19.Renaldo Francois, 28.Jomokie Cassimy.

Unused substitutes: 30.Dejourn Charles (GK); 25.Joshua Martin, 26.Jair Edwards.

Coach: Jerry Moe

Police FC: 22.Theon Browne (GK); 2.Jasimar Ashers, 4.Kadeem Boyce, 11.Micah Lewis (38.Makesi Lewis 69th minute), 17.Dexter Alleyne, 19.Christon Thomas (23.Shakuile Williams 63rd minute), 25.Kaashif Thomas, 26.Travis Joseph, 32.Keion Wilson (Capt.), 33.Kemron Purcell, 36.Kadeem Riley (13.Dillon Kirton 53rd minute).

Unused substitutes: 18.Adrian Foncette (GK); 15.Christian Thomas, 24.Xavier Wheeler, 27.Brandon Charles.

Coach: Richard Hood

Referee: Cecile Hinds

Immortelle Group

Rank Team MP W D L GF GA GD Pts.
1 Defence Force FC 4 3 0 1 15 4 11 9
2 Central FC 4 3 0 1 7 4 3 9
3 Club Sando 4 2 1 1 4 4 0 7
4 MIC-IT St. Ann’s Rangers 4 1 0 3 4 12 -8 3
5 San Juan Jabloteh 4 0 1 3 2 8 -6 1

Abercrombie Group

Rank Team MP W D L GF GA GD Pts.
1 Police FC 4 3 0 1 9 3 6 9
2 Morvant Caledonia United 4 3 0 1 7 3 4 9
3 W Connection 4 2 0 2 6 5 1 6
4 Point Fortin Civic 4 2 0 2 8 8 0 6
5 North East Stars 4 0 0 4 2 13 -11 0

[Flex]

Defence Force, Central to contest First Citizens Cup final on July 20.
ttproleague.com.

Central FC - The Sharks trashed the idea of an all-servicemen final of the 2018 First Citizens Cup, but did so via a marathon penalty shootout with Police FC to win 7-6 following a 1-1 draw on Friday night.

Marvin Phillip proved one better than his Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeping teammate Adrian Foncette when his second save of the shootout to deny Police winger Kareem Perry in sudden death sent the Couva Sharks into the final against Defence Force FC, who had earlier clobbered Morvant Caledonia United 4-0 in the first game of the semi-final double-header at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Brent Sam scored twice for three-time (2002, 2009 & 2016) champions Defence Force, separated by the half and goal from team captain Jerwyn Balthazar goal, after Hashim Arcia had first put the Tetron Boys in front against the two-time (2011 & 2012) former champions Morvant Caledonia.

But for Central, the 2013 and 2014 champions, booking a place in 2018 final which kicks off from 7pm at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Friday 20 July required a gritty performance, a handful of yellow cards conceded, a Duane Muckette equaliser, and the heroics of Phillip between the sticks in the deciding penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw.

Police, coached by Richard Hood, had taken the lead through Kareem Freitas after 12 minutes when he put a right side Kareem Perry cross past Phillip, to go level with Defence Force’s Sam on five goals as the 2018 edition’s joint leading scorers.

That lead lasted till the 70th minute when Muckette, free in the heart of the Police penalty area, levelled the Stern John-coached Central with a solid finish past Foncette off a hard-worked Anthony Wolfe cross from the left.

Police, however, tossed victory to the wind when substitute Keion Wilson lifted a low Nequan Caruth cross—which had goal written all over it—over bar from inside the six-yard area and the goal at his mercy in stoppage time.

The Lawmen paid the price of defeat in the deciding penalty shootout although Todd Ryan, Kurdell Brathwaite, Ryan O’Neil, Kareem Freitas, Dexter Alleyne and Wilson were clinical from the spot.

Clevon Mc Fee and Kareem Perry were denied by Central’s Phillip during the marathon kicks while Foncette only managed to deny Muckette.

Kerry Baptiste, Wolfe, Keron Cummings, Akim Armstrong, Taryk Sampson, Dwight Pope and Jared London all hit the back of the target for Central, who face an even bigger challenge against Defence Force in the title match.

The Marvin Gordon-coached Defence Force took a 1-0 lead against Morvant Caledonia in the 29th minute through Arcia, who from inside the right of the box, drilled a low shot past the frame of goalkeeper Terrence Lewis and into the far bottom corner.

Lewis later acrobatically put behind a strike from Sam who had held off two challenges in the box before letting off the left-footed shot.

But Sam celebrated his first on the night three minutes from the break with low drive into Lewis’ far bottom corner. The lanky forward completed his double and his team’s 4-0 win from close up in the 83rd minute after Balthazar had turned in a short feed from substitute Kellon Serrette two minutes earlier.

The win means First Citizens Cup final number 10 for the Army/Coast Guard combination.

First Citizens Cup 2018 Semi-Final Round Results

Defence Force FC 4 (Hashim Arcia 29’, Brent Sam 42’, 83’, Jerwyn Balthazar 81’) vs Morvant Caledonia United 0, at Hasely Crawford Stadium;

Police FC 1 (Kareem Freitas 12’) vs Central FC 1 (Duane Muckette 70’), at Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Central won 7-6 on penalties

Central FC 7 v Police FC 6

Kerry Baptiste (scored) - Todd Ryan (scored)
Anthony Wolfe (scored) - Kerdell Brathwaite (scored)
Keron Cummings (scored) - Ryan O’Neil (scored)
Akim Armstrong (scored) - Clevon Mc Fee (saved)
Duane Muckette (saved) - Kareem Freitas (scored)
Taryk Sampson (scored) - Dexter Alleyne (scored)
Dwight Pope (scored) - Keion Wilson (scored)
Jared London (scored) - Kareem Perry (saved)

First Citizens Cup Final

(Friday 20 July 2018)

Defence Force FC vs Central FC, 7pm, Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Teams

Semi-Final One

Defence Force FC: 25.Sheldon Clarke (GK); 4.Dave Long (20.Levi Serries 69th minute), 5.Jerome Mc Intyre, 6.Rodell Elcock, 8.Brent Sam, 9.Devorn Jorsling (16.Kellon Serrette 78th minute), 10.Hashim Arcia, 17.Curtis Gonzales, 21.Aklie Edwards, 45.Dylon King (18.Reon Moore 56th minute), 99.Jerwyn Balthazar (Capt.).

Unused substitutes: 1.Andre Marchan (GK); 11.Dwight Quintero, 12.Jemel Sebro, 32.Jameel Cooper.

Coach: Marvin Gordon

Morvant Caledonia United: 1.Terrence Lewis (GK); 3.Richard Williams, 5.Joshua Sylvester, 9.Sedale Mc Lean (26.Jair Edwards 61st minute), 11.Quincy Ballah (10.Sheldon Holder 70th minute), 12.Kareem Joseph (Capt.), 15.Malik Mieres, 16.Travell Edwards (22.Joshua Alexander 46th minute), 17.Kerry Daniel, 19.Renaldo Francois, 28.Jomokie Cassimy.

Unused substitutes: 30.Dejourn Charles (GK); 23.Osaze Springer, 25.Joshua Martin.

Coach: Jerry Moe

Referee: Crystal Sobers

Semi-Final Two

Police FC: 18.Adrian Foncette (GK) (Capt.), 3.Ryan O’Neil, 5.Kenaz Williams, 7.Kareem Perry (32.Keion Wilson 80th minute), 8.Kurdell Brathwaite, 9.Jameel Perry, 10.Kareem Perry, 12.Nequan Caruth, 15.Christian Thomas (17.Dexter Alleyne 60th minute), 21.Todd Ryan, 29.Clevon Mc Fee.

Unused substitutes: 22.Theon Browne (GK); 4.Kadeem Boyce, 23.Shakuile Williams, 25.Kaashif Thomas, 38.Mekesi Lewis.

Coach: Richard Hood

Central FC: 1.Marvin Phillip (GK); 5.Dwight Pope, 8.Akim Armstrong, 12.Taryk Sampson, 13.Rhondel Gibson (26.Dominic Douglas 75th minute), 15.Kaydion Gabriel (29.Kerry Baptiste 93rd minute), 17.Anthony Wolfe, 18.Densill Theobald (Capt.) (10.Keron Cummings 44th minute), 22.Jameel Neptune, 19.Jared London, 24.Duane Muckette.

Unused substitutes: 27.Anthony Charles.

Coach: Stern John

Referee: Rodphin Harris

[Flex]

Stern: We must believe in First Citizens Cup final.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).

CENTRAL FC coach Stern John is anticipating a difficult final against Defence Force on Friday in the TT Pro League’s First Citizens Cup but has urged his players to believe in themselves. The final will be staged at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, starting at 7 pm.

In the semi-final round last Friday at the Mucurapo venue, Central FC needed kicks from the penalty spot to defeat Police 7-6, after a 1-1 scoreline at the end of regulation time. Defence Force, in the earlier semi, breezed past Morvant Caledonia United 4-0.

John, the highest goal-scorer in TT football history with 70 goals from 115 international matches, is in his first full season as Central FC coach, after Dale Saunders resigned midway during the 2017 season.

In a telephone interview on Monday, John said, “I think for us, we just have to believe. I (told) the players they have a lot of ability. We just need to believe in what we can do and be patient.”

The ex-Columbus Crew, Nottingham Forest and Coventry City striker noted, “We couldn’t ask for any better of them.

They’ve carried out instructions really well and if we continue, I think we have a good chance of winning the final.

“It’ll be a difficult final but we have a chance once we apply ourselves and do what we have to do, and not worry about what the opponents (are) doing.”

Looking back at last Friday’s semi-final, John acknowledged, “Police were playing to their strength, playing the ball long to (Jameel) Perry and it’s a difficult ball to deal with.”

John noted that his team worked in training on dealing with Police’s long-ball strategy, and they were able to combat that plan by maintaining possession of the ball, especially in the second half.

He added, “We stuck to the plan really well and got ourselves back into the game. It was an even game in the end.

“I saw the guys kick penalties the day before and I wasn’t panicking. I know they would do a good job and I know Marvin (Phillip) would’ve come up with some good saves as well. We’re in the final on Friday so we look forward to it.”

John has commended his players for their efforts thus far this season, despite the club’s financial struggles.

“It has been difficult, especially as a young manager in the business,” said the current TT men’s team assistant coach. “We all know the financial problem we have in the league.

As a young manager who is preparing as (best) possible the night before, when he shows up expecting to have 18 players, sometimes we have (about) 10 players, because of the fact that the players have no money to come to training and we have no money to pay them.”

John said the club has implemented a few fund-raising measures to assist the players.

[Tallman]

Keron Cummings, Marvin Phillip shine as Central reunites with First Citizens Cup
T&T Pro League Media

Central FC on Friday night defeated Defence Force FC 4-2 on penalties following a gripping 2-2 contest which included extra time in the 2018 First Citizens Cup final at the Hasely Crawford Stadium to reunite with the trophy they won back-to-back in 2013 and 2014.

Discarded Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Keron Cummings scored two skilfully executed goals and displayed brilliant individual skill, most notably a nutmeg and scoop to evade two defenders midway through the second half of extra time, before T&T goalkeeper and eventual tournament MVP Marvin Phillip proved huge between the sticks on the deciding penalty kicks.

Phillip’s presence in goal saw two rising talents of T&T football, Dylon King and Reon Moore, fail to hit the back of the net on Defence Force’s second and third kick respectively, while Kerry Baptiste, Akim Armstrong and Cummings were on target for Central before Duane Muckette celebrated the winning kick.

Hashim Arcia and Brent Sam scored for Defence Force in the shootout while teammate and goalkeeper Sheldon Clarke made a save to deny Couva Sharks’ defender Taryk Sampson on the fourth, but even that wasn’t enough to avoid the three-time champions a second consecutive runners-up finish after losing to W Connection in last year’s final.

“They (Defence Force) thought they could have just showed up and beat us,” said Central FC coach Stern John afterwards. “[But] we came and we fought tooth and nail. All (our) boys worked their socks off and we won the game. At the end of the night we were the better team and we deserved the win.

“Football is not a game of talking. You have to walk the walk and talk the talk. You can’t just talk it, you have to play the football.”

John praised his players for showing character through the club’s financial difficulties and after the disappointment of failing to qualify out of the Caribbean Club Championship earlier this year for the Concacaf League.

Cummings fired Central in front 1-0 three minutes from the end of the first half, breaking the deadlock with a left-footed strike to find Clarke’s bottom right corner after collecting a squared Armstrong pass inside the box and shaking off two challengers.

But with champagne on ice, Defence Force stormed back in the second half with two quick goals just over the hour mark.

King beat a fully stretched Phillip from inside the box off a short Devorn Jorsling feed in the 64th minute to level Defence Force 1-1 with his fifth goal of the tournament to finish joint top scorer with teammate Sam and Police FC forward Kareem Freitas.

Two minutes later Jorsling led another goal celebration after bundling substitute Moore’s cross over the line to put the Marvin Gordon coached-Tetron Boys in front 2-1 and the crowded Port of Spain venue exploded once more on the backdrop of the rhythm section.

Jorsling was cheered off moments later after Gordon’s decision to replace the legs of the veteran and all-time Pro League top scorer with Dwight Quintero.

But Cummings, who had first sent his calling card on the half-hour mark with a free kick that flew inches wide of Clarke’s far top corner, levelled Central 2-2 with his second goal on the night a beauty of a volley from distance in the 84th minute, seconds after T&T national defender Curtis Gonzales had to make a dramatic clearance at the Defence Force goalmouth.

Cummings, ahead of the awards ceremony, said his display was to signal to T&T senior team coach Dennis Lawrence that he is fully fit and ready for a national recall.

“(…) knowing coming out and putting a good performance against this [Defence Force team], people [will] see that I am not [still] injured and I am working hard to get back on the national team,” added the 30-year-old midfielder, who was shot in the leg in December 2015 at the prime of his career and at a time he had interests from clubs in the United States.

“This (First Citizens Cup final) was the ideal game to come and work to try and get a good result and it happened.”

Cummings, who played for North East Stars and second-tier club Diego Martin/Petit Valley United before returning to Central this year, said he wants to build on his First Citizens Cup performance. He said his confidence will grow with more games.

Cummings also rocked the crossbar in the first minute of extra time before Phillip’s 109th-minute save to deny Moore was vital in sending the decider into kicks from the spot, which eventually favoured the Couva Sharks.

Phillip, one of the heroes of the final, had also made a diving save two minutes from the end to keep out a strike from King to deny Defence Force victory at the death of regular time in what will be remembered as one of the most exciting First Citizens Cup finals which had loads of giveaways including a TT$5,000 kick-for-cash, a flat screen television, a security camera system, and a closing performance from new artiste Sejoux Leo Star.

First Citizens Cup 2018 Final
Defence Force FC 2 (Dylon King 64’, Devorn Jorsling 66’) vs Central FC 2 (Keron Cummings 42’, 84’), at Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Central won 4-2 on kicks from the penalty mark

Central FC 4 Defence Force FC 2
Kerry Baptiste (scored) Hashim Harlim Arcia (scored)
Akim Armstrong (scored) Dylon King (missed)
Keron Cummings (scored) Reon Moore (hit the bar)
Taryk Sampson (saved) Brent Sam (scored)
Duane Muckette (scored)

Teams
Defence Force FC: 25.Sheldon Clarke (GK); 4.Dave Long (18.Reon Moore 17th minute), 5.Jerome Mc Intyre, 6.Rodell Elcock, 8.Brent Sam, 9.Devorn Jorsling (11.Dwight Quintero 76th minute), 10.Hashim Arcia, 17.Curtis Gonzales, 21.Aklie Edwards, 45.Dylon King, 99.Jerwyn Balthazar (Capt.).

Unused substitutes: 1.Andre Marchan (GK); 12.Jemel Sebro, 16.Kellon Serrette, 20.Levi Serries, 32.Jameel Cooper.

Coach: Marvin Gordon.

Central FC: 1.Marvin Phillip (GK); 5.Dwight Pope, 8.Akim Armstrong, 10.Keron Cummings, 12.Taryk Sampson, 13.Rhondel Gibson (29.Kerry Baptiste 68th minute), 15.Kaydion Gabriel, 19.Jared London (27.Anthony Charles 114th minute), 22.Jameel Neptune, 24.Duane Muckette (Capt.), 26.Dominic Douglas (7.Kirston Baird 58th minute).

Unused substitutes: 18.Densill Theobald.

Coach: Stern John.

Match Officials
Referee: Cecile Hinds
Assistant Referee 1: Caleb Wales
Assistant Referee 2: Kevin Lewis
Fourth Official: Nicholai Nyron
Referees’ Assessor: Boni Bishop
Match Commissioner: Natasha Hinkson

[Flex]

Victorious coach Stern hungry for more silverware.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).

VICTORIOUS coach of 2018 First Citizens Cup winners Central FC, Stern John, is hungry for more silverware in his new role on the sidelines. The legendary 40-year-old ex-national striker is the all-time leading TT international scorer with 70 goals from 115 appearances.

John is in his first full season as Central FC coach, having replaced ex-national teammate Dale Saunders midway into the 2017 campaign. And he won his first title as coach on Friday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, as Central FC defeated Defence Force 4-2 via kicks from the penalty spot. The scores were locked at 2-2 at the end of 120 minutes of regulation and injury time.

“I’m feeling good,” said John. “I’m hungry for success. I want to do well.

“Hopefully I can continue my trade and apply (it) well because I’m passionate about (TT) football and getting (it) back where it’s supposed to be,” he added. “I’m one of the young coaches, I’m going to make mistakes along the way but that’s part of it. I’m willing to learn.”

Keron Cummings scored both goals for Central FC, in the 42nd and 83rd minutes. The goal-getters for Defence Force were Dylon King (64th) and Devorn Jorsling (65th).

John praised the mentality of the players, as they have been dealing with financial struggles for the past year.“The last couple of years we’ve always been able to field some of the best in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said. “With the financial problem we’re having now, we’re at a rebuilding stage. I think for the team, they’ve been working under real difficult conditions. We have to give the players a lot of credit.”

Central FC were only able to field 15 players with no back-up goalkeeper to Marvin Phillip.

“We have to grind it out,” John said. “If Marvin went down in the game, we would’ve been struggling. For what we had to work with and what we’ve done, I have to give credit to the boys.”

He added, “Army was talking about how 13 men can’t beat them. These boys showed resilience, they showed passion and I say they deserve this 100 per cent.”

Regular captain Densill Theobald was an unused sub and ex-national utility player Anthony Wolfe left for a contact in India.

According to John, “Theobald, give credit to him. He’s one of the older players around and he’s steadied the ship. He makes my job a lot easier. We have (youngsters) Rhondel (Gibson) and (Taryk) Sampson – they’re really hungry for success – and I’m willing to work with them.”

[Flex]

Phillip: Theobald held Central FC together.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).

CENTRAL FC goalkeeper Marvin Phillip said Friday’s victory in the First Citizens Cup could not have been possible without the inspirational leadership of their captain Densill Theobald.

The club has been navigating through difficult times due to the economic downturn which has seen a mass exodus of players in the last couple years. Phillip praised captain Densill Theobald, who missed the final through injury, for lifting the spirits of players who have stuck around.

“I got to thank Densill, the skipper, for holding the team,” Phillip noted. “(Myself) as well, but not as much as Densill. He says once we come onto the training pitch, once we decide to cross that white line, put everything besides us. Once we get back behind the white line, whatever problems we face we’ll have to deal with it.”

Central FC defeated Defence Force 4-2 courtesy kicks from the penalty spot, after a 2-2 scoreline at the end of regulation and extra time, to secure the First Citizens Cup title, in a tense final at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

Keron Cummings scored twice for Central FC on Frday in the 42nd and 83rd minutes. Dylon King (64th) and Devorn Jorsling (65th) replied for Defence Force.

Looking back at Friday’s match, Phillip said, “We lapsed for a couple minutes and that’s when we conceded two goals. We buckled down as a team and said ‘we’ve got to fight till the end’. We kept on fighting and we got the equaliser. We stepped up in the penalties which we were confident in.”

He is hopeful that this result can boost the team, ahead of the 2018 Pro League season which kicks off in August.

“I want this to be a stepping stone for the club. We want to continue our hard work and try our best to win the league title,” Phillip said.

Phillip said their cup victory compensated for the team’s poor showing at the Caribbean Club Championships final stage two months ago in Jamaica.

At the Caribbean Club Championships, Central FC were beaten in all three matches – 2-0 to Arnett Gardens in the semi-final, 2-1 to another Jamaican team Portmore United in the third-place match and, 2-1 to Martinique club Club Franciscain in a play-off.

Phillip, who rejoined Central FC after a stint with fellow Pro League team Point Fortin Civic, said, “It’s a great feeling for a player to win any title.

“We, as a team, had buckled down after a horrendous trip to Jamaica. We had disappointed ourselves (and) our nation. So, we said, we definitely need to rebound.”

Phillip added, “We (were) working hard to come out and win this tournament. All the hard work paid off.”

The 33-year-old has featured with various Pro League teams, including Starworld Strikers, North East Stars, W Connection, Joe Public, TTEC and Morvant Caledonia United. He is back at the club where he spent the 2012-2013 season.

[g]

Ballpest looked really good in the final, fitter, faster and high in confidence.

[Cocorite]

Ballpest looked really good in the final, fitter, faster and high in confidence.

Good to hear. Would love to see him rebound and revamp his international career.

[Flex]

Sancho: First Citizens Cup to kickstart new league.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).

INTERIM CHAIRMAN of the TT Pro League, Brent Sancho, said that the First Citizens Cup will kickstart the 2019-2020 Ascension Football League.

The tournament will be sponsored by Terminix Trinidad director Richard Ferguson and sport clothing brand Ascension.

Concerning the status of the league, which was due to kick off today, Sancho said yesterday, “We plan to make an official announcement (today) as well as a launch next week of the First Citizens Cup.”

Sancho, who is also the owner of former Pro League champions Central FC, said talks are still ongoing with the local governing body TT Football Association (TTFA) regarding the structure of the league, as well as its relationship with both Ascension and regional sports cable channel SportsMax.

“We’re still in discussions with the TTFA re the proposed Tier One and Tier Two, and we also have the contractual agreements with ourselves, Ascension and SportsMax being put together by our lawyers.”

The former Sports Minister continued, “Things are in stream. We (wouldn’t) start as planned this weekend. We have put together a game to be played, the final of the (First Citizens) Cup in lieu of the deceased Jason Marcano.”

The 35-year-old Marcano, the former St Ann’s Rangers, San Juan Jabloteh and Central FC midfielder/striker, died in a vehicular accident on May 30.

Asked when exactly the league would kick off, Sancho responded, “We have the launch of the Cup and that will give all the indications as to what is the next step. All the information will be given subsequently as it relates to when the league will start etcetera.

“We’re excited to know that First Citizens has shown interest in partnering with us,” Sancho added. “We hope to have one or two pleasant surprises for spectators and fans alike.”

[Flex]

Pro football returns with First Citizens Cup.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).

At long last, there will be pro­fes­sion­al foot­ball in T&T af­ter al­most a year of in­ac­tiv­i­ty. The T&T Pro League will kick off with the First Cit­i­zens Cup to­mor­row night at the Diego Mar­tin Sports Com­plex in Bagatelle.

Twelve teams, in­clud­ing new­com­ers 1976 To­ba­go Phoenix, which the league sought as a rep­re­sen­ta­tive team from the sis­ter-isle, as well as Cunu­pia FC, the T&T Su­per League cam­paign­ers, will bat­tle for a $75,000 cash prize, a tro­phy and brag­ging rights, which are cur­rent­ly be­ing held by 2018 win­ners Cen­tral FC.

At a launch on Wednes­day, Pro League Chief Ex­ec­u­tive Of­fi­cer (CEO) Ju­lia Bap­tiste said the teams - W Con­nec­tion, North East Stars, De­fence Force, Mor­vant Cale­do­nia Unit­ed, Po­lice FC, Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers, Tiger Tanks Club San­do, Point Fortin Civic, San Juan Jabloteh, Cunu­pia FC, 1976 Phoenix and Cen­tral FC, have been drawn in two groups - Im­mortelle and Aber­crom­bie - of six teams each and they will play in a round-robin for­mat, from which the top two teams will ad­vance to the semi­fi­nals.

Bap­tiste not­ed that the sev­en-week First Cit­i­zens tour­na­ment will see all the Fri­day night match­es be­ing played at the Com­plex. Oth­er match­es, how­ev­er, will be played at dif­fer­ent venues across T&T.

Ac­cord­ing to Bap­tiste, the de­ci­sion to take the Fri­day match­es to the Diego Mar­tin venue was to im­pact the many com­mu­ni­ties that ex­ist there.

"These com­mu­ni­ties were be­ing tar­get­ed for a while now, so we have de­cid­ed to use this op­por­tu­ni­ty. We are tak­ing top-flight foot­ball to the peo­ple who are in­ter­est­ed in sup­port­ing their play­ers and the sport," Bap­tiste ex­plained.

A clash be­tween Mor­vant Cale­do­nia and Cunu­pia FC will get the tour­na­ment un­der­way at 6 pm, fol­low­ing which the De­fence Force and de­fend­ing cham­pi­ons Cen­tral FC will meet at 8 pm.

The Cup tour­na­ment is sched­uled to fin­ish on De­cem­ber 7, af­ter which the start of the Pro League will take place six days lat­er (De­cem­ber 13). Bap­tiste said the restart of the Pro League has been a wel­come one for the many play­ers who are rar­ing and ready to go.

It will run for sev­en rounds, end­ing on May 31, 2020 and it is ex­pect­ed to fea­ture a high lev­el of com­pe­ti­tion. Bap­tiste yes­ter­day paid spe­cial trib­ute to First Cit­i­zens, not­ing they have been ex­treme­ly sup­port­ive to them amid the fi­nan­cial­ly dif­fi­cult times.

The Pro League boss told the au­di­ence it was a long hard ride for top-flight foot­ball in T&T but they are fi­nal­ly here to start back the league.

2019 T&T Pro League Teams

W Con­nec­tion, North East Stars, De­fence Force, Mor­vant Cale­do­nia Unit­ed, Po­lice FC, Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers, Tiger Tanks Club San­do, Point Fortin Civic, San Juan Jabloteh, Cunu­pia FC, 1976 Phoenix and Cen­tral FC.

[Tallman]

Army, Cunupia win First Citizens openers
By Nigel Simon (T&T Guardian)

Three-time win­ners De­fence Force and Cunu­pia FC reg­is­tered nar­row 1-0 wins as the bat­tle for the T&T Pro League’s 2019 First Cit­i­zens Cup kicked off at the Diego Mar­tin Sports Com­plex in Bagatelle, Diego Mar­tin, on Fri­day night.

It was the first time that pro­fes­sion­al foot­ball was played in the Diego Mar­tin com­mu­ni­ty and the event was hailed as a step in the right di­rec­tion to­wards guid­ing lo­cal clubs to wards a path of self-sus­tain­abil­i­ty in the fu­ture. The fact that spec­ta­tors were treat­ed to two close­ly fought match­es al­so helped that cause.

In the night’s open­er, Cunu­pia FC got a 53rd-minute strike from Ajani Clarence as they stunned two-time win­ners Mor­vant Cale­do­nia AIA 1-0 in their Im­mortelle Group cur­tain-rais­er.

And in the sec­ond match-up, last year’s beat­en fi­nal­ist De­fence Force edged ti­tle-hold­ers Cen­tral FC 1-0 cour­tesy a 25th-minute ef­fort from Jameel Coop­er in the Aber­crom­bie group.

The tour­na­ment is be­ing con­test­ed via a round-robin for­mat with two groups of six teams each. At the end of the round-robin phase, the top two teams from each group will ad­vance to the se­mi-fi­nal in­ which the win­ners of that round will earn the right to con­test the $75,000 win­ners’ prize, while the run­ners-up with pock­et $25,000.

Match­es will re­sume to­mor­row with dou­ble-head­ers at both the Hase­ly Craw­ford Sta­di­um, Mu­cu­rapo and Diego Mar­tin Sport­ing Com­plex, both from 4 pm.

At Mu­cu­rapo, record eight-time win­ners W Con­nec­tion plays Point Fortin Civic from 4 pm fol­lowed by Po­lice against Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers, while at Diego Mar­tin, two-time win­ners San Juan Jabloteh bat­tles 1976 Fc To­ba­go Phoenix from 4 pm fol­lowed by AC Port-of-Spain (for­mer­ly North East Stars) and Tiger Tanks Club San­do.

Mean­while, the league com­pe­ti­tion will of­fi­cial­ly kick-off af­ter close to a year of in­ac­tiv­i­ty on De­cem­ber 13 and will even­tu­al­ly be called the ‘As­cen­sion Pro League’, as mem­ber clubs and the Pro League board of di­rec­tors have agreed to have As­cen­sion spon­sor the league this year, while dis­cus­sions are still on­go­ing with Sports­Max and the T&T Foot­ball As­so­ci­a­tion to join.

Pro League of­fi­cials are al­so con­sid­er­ing a call to have the sec­ond-tier com­pe­ti­tion or­gan­ised in time for the of­fi­cial start of the Pro League on De­cem­ber 13.

Scores:
Cunu­pia FC 1 (Ajani Clarence 53rd) v Mor­vant Cale­do­nia AIA 0
De­fence Force 1 (Jameel Coop­er 25th) v Cen­tral FC 0

Im­mortelle Group: Tiger Tank Club San­do, Mor­vant Cale­do­nia Unit­ed, Cunu­pia FC, Ath­let­ic Club AC Port-of-Spain, San Juan Jabloteh, 1976 Phoenix,

Aber­crom­bie Group: W Con­nec­tion, De­fence Force, Po­lice FC, Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers, Point Fortin Civic and Cen­tral FC

Up­com­ing match­es:

Mon­day, Oc­to­ber 28:

Venue: Diego Mar­tin Sport­ing Com­plex, Diego Mar­tin:
San Juan Jabloteh v 1976 FC To­ba­go Phoenix, 4pm
AC Port-of-Spain v Tiger Tanks Club San­do, 6pm

Venue: Hase­ly Craw­ford Sta­di­um, Mu­cu­rapo:
W Con­nec­tion v Pt Fortin Civic, 4pm
Po­lice FC v Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers, 6pm

[Flex]

W Connection, Jabloteh make winning start.
By Nigel Simon (Guardian).

Record eight-time win­ners, W Con­nec­tion and two-time cham­pi­ons San Juan Jabloteh both reg­is­tered 3-0 win in their re­spec­tive open­ing group cam­paigns when the 2019 First Cit­i­zens Cup of the T&T Pro League which con­tin­ued with two dou­ble-head­ers on Mon­day.

At the Hase­ly Craw­ford Sta­di­um, Mu­cu­rapo, W Con­nec­tion, win­ners of the last of their Cup ti­tles in 2017, 3-1 over De­fence Force, trounced Pt Fortin Civic 3-0 led by a goal each from na­tion­al strik­er Shah­don Win­ches­ter (32nd), Mick­aeel Gem Gor­don (36th), and Neil Ben­jamin Jr (47th) to go top of the six-club round-robin Aber­crom­bie Group, ahead of three-time win­ners De­fence Force and Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers, on goal-dif­fer­ence with all three clubs on three points each.

Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers got the 50th-minute item from Jo­moul Fran­cois to beat Po­lice FC, 1-0.

Down at the Diego Mar­tin Sports Com­plex in Bagatelle, Diego Mar­tin which host­ed Fri­day's open­ing dou­ble-head­er, Jabloteh, who last won the com­pe­ti­tion in 2003 kicked off their tour­na­ment ver­sus 1976 FC Phoenix with goals from na­tion­al de­fend­er Car­lyle Mitchell in the 37th, Un­der-20 na­tion­al strik­er Jodel Brown in the 40th and Kadeem Hutchin­son, in the 72nd.

The vic­to­ry left Jabloteh as sole lead­ers of the Im­mortelle Group with three points af­ter AC Port-of-Spain (for­mer­ly North East Stars), and Tiger Tanks Club San­do bat­tled to a 1-1 draw in the night's sec­ond match.

John-Paul Rochford fired AC Port-of-Spain in­to a 72nd-minute lead, but Ke­muel Rivers snatched an 89th-minute equalis­er for Club San­do.

When the com­pe­ti­tion be­gan on Fri­day, Cunu­pia FC got a 53rd-minute strike from Ajani Clarence to stun two-time win­ners Mor­vant Cale­do­nia AIA 1-0 in their Im­mortelle Group cur­tain-rais­er, and last year's beat­en fi­nal­ist De­fence Force edged ti­tle-hold­ers Cen­tral FC 1-0 cour­tesy a 25th-minute ef­fort from Jameel Coop­er in the Aber­crom­bie group.

The tour­na­ment is be­ing con­test­ed via a round-robin for­mat with two groups of six teams each.

At the end of the round-robin phase, the top two teams from each group will ad­vance to the se­mi-fi­nal in­ which the win­ners of that round will earn the right to con­test the $75,000 win­ners' prize, while the run­ners-up with pock­et $25,000.

Mean­while, the league com­pe­ti­tion will of­fi­cial­ly kick-off the league af­ter close to a year of in­ac­tiv­i­ty on De­cem­ber 13, and will even­tu­al­ly be called the 'As­cen­sion Pro League' as mem­ber clubs and the Board of Di­rec­tors of the Pro League, have agreed to have As­cen­sion spon­sor it this year while dis­cus­sions are still on-go­ing with Sports­Max and the T&T Foot­ball As­so­ci­a­tion to join.

Pro League of­fi­cials are al­so lis­ten­ing to the foot­ball as­so­ci­a­tion to have the Sec­ond Tier com­pe­ti­tion or­gan­ised in time for the of­fi­cial start of the pro league on De­cem­ber 13.

MON­DAY'S RE­SULTS

San Juan Jabloteh 3 (Car­lyle Mitchell 37th, Jodel Brown 40th, Kadeem Hutchin­son 72nd) vs 1976 FC To­ba­go Phoenix 0

AC Port-of-Spain 1 (John-Paul Rochford 72nd) vs Tiger Tanks Club San­do 1 (Ke­muel Rivers 89th pen)

W Con­nec­tion 3 (Shah­don Win­ches­ter 32nd, Mick­aeel Gem Gor­don 36th, Neil Ben­jamin 47th.) vs Pt Fortin Civic 0

Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers 1 (Jo­moul Fran­cois 50th) vs Po­lice FC 0

Lat­est Group Stand­ings

Aber­crom­bie Group

Teams*P*W*D*L*F*A*Pts
1. W Con­nec­tion*1*1*0*0*3*0*3
2. De­fence Force*1*1*0*0*1*0*3
3. L.H Rangers*1*1*0*0*1*0*3
4. Cen­tral FC*1*0*0*1*0*1*0
5. Po­lice FC*1*0*0*1*0*1*0
6. Pt Fortin Civic*1*0*0*1*0*3*0

Im­mortelle Group

Teams*P*W*D*L*F*A*Pts
1. San Juan Jabloteh*1*1*0*0*3*0*3
2. Cunu­pia FC*1*1*0*0*1*0*1
3. AC PoS*1*0*1*0*1*1*1
4. Club San­do*1*0*1*0*1*1*1
5. Mor­vant Cale­do­nia*1*0*0*1*0*1*0
6. To­ba­go Phoenix*1*0*0*1*0*3*0

[Deeks]

AC Port-of-Spain (for­mer­ly North East Stars)

Are they playing in POS ?

[asylumseeker]

AC Port-of-Spain (for­mer­ly North East Stars)

Are they playing in POS ?

Who is the coach?

[Tallman]

AC Port-of-Spain (for­mer­ly North East Stars)

Are they playing in POS ?

Yes.

[Flex]

Defence Force targets Police scalp.
By Nigel Simon (Guardian).

Three-time cham­pi­ons and fi­nal­ists in the last three in­stal­ments of the First Cit­i­zens Cup, De­fence Force will re­sume its quest for a fourth straight fi­nals ap­pear­ance when they en­ter­tain Po­lice FC in the fea­ture match of a dou­ble-head­er at Diego Mar­tin Sport­ing Com­plex, Bagatelle Road, Diego Mar­tin from 8 pm on Fri­day night.

A week ago at the same venue, the "Teteron Men" com­pe­ti­tion win­ners in 2002, 2002 and 2016 and beat­en fi­nal­ist the last two years edged de­fend­ing cham­pi­on and fel­low three-time win­ners, and five-time fi­nal­ists Cen­tral FC 1-0 in their com­pe­ti­tion cour­tesy Jameel Coop­er in the Aber­crom­bie group and will be fan­cied to get full points again.

Po­lice FC, mean­while fell to a 1-0 to Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta FC and will need to start pick­ing up points if they are se­cure a top-two fin­ish in the six-team round-robin group to book a semi­fi­nal spot.

Two hours ear­li­er, AC Port-of-Spain (for­mer­ly North East Stars) and Mor­vant Cale­do­nia AIA, two-time tour­na­ment win­ners (2011 & 2012) and four-time fi­nal­ist will both be out to pick up their win of the com­pe­ti­tion in the Im­mortelle Group.

This af­ter Mor­vant Cale­do­nia went un­der to Cunu­pia FC 1-0 a week ago at the same venue, while AC Port-of-Spain and 1976 FC To­ba­go Phoenix bat­tled to a 1-1 draw on Sat­ur­day last al­so at Diego Mar­tin.

On Sat­ur­day, eighth-time win­ners, W Con­nec­tion, win­ners of the last of their Cup ti­tles in 2017, 3-1 over De­fence Force, will be hop­ing to add to their 3-0 thump­ing of Pt Fortin Civic when the tack­le Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers in the sec­ond match of a dou­ble-head­er at Ato Boldon Sta­di­um, Cou­va from 6 pm.

In the open­er at Cou­va, Cen­tral FC will bat­tle Pt Fortin Civic from 4 pm.

And on Sun­day, To­ba­go Phoenix meets Club San­do from 4 pm in the open­ing match at the Hase­ly Craw­ford Sta­di­um, Mu­cu­rapo fol­lowed by San Juan Jabloteh and Cunu­pia FC.

The tour­na­ment is be­ing con­test­ed via a round-robin for­mat with two groups of six teams each.

At the end of the round-robin phase, the top two teams from each group will ad­vance to the se­mi-fi­nal in­ which the win­ners of that round will earn the right to con­test the $75,000 win­ners' prize, while the run­ners-up with pock­et $25,000.

Mean­while, the league com­pe­ti­tion will of­fi­cial­ly kick-off the league af­ter close to a year of in­ac­tiv­i­ty on De­cem­ber 13, and will even­tu­al­ly be called the 'As­cen­sion Pro League' as mem­ber clubs and the Board of Di­rec­tors of the Pro League, have agreed to have As­cen­sion spon­sor it this year while dis­cus­sions are still on-go­ing with Sports­Max and the T&T Foot­ball As­so­ci­a­tion to join.

Pro League of­fi­cials are al­so lis­ten­ing to the foot­ball as­so­ci­a­tion to have the Sec­ond Tier com­pe­ti­tion or­gan­ised in time for the of­fi­cial start of the pro league on De­cem­ber 13.

[Deeks]

AC Port-of-Spain (for­mer­ly North East Stars)

Are they playing in POS ?

Yes.

So Tallman, just so this happen. Ah mean no news write up of the change. Why they moved to POS?  Is Darryl M. still the owner. When Ferguson took Rangers to the Arima area, there was a comprehensive write up on the reason for the move. And it appears that the La Horquetta community has embraced the team. And the way he renovated the venue give a sense of permanence. The club wants to be in the area for the long haul. It is nice to see AC move in to fill the void left by Rangers. But will the POS embrace this team. What has the AC organization done to make east and west PoS come and support them. To me it looking like a vaps move. Mind you, I wish them all the success. I want the fans to go and support them. I may be in TT in Feb. I would love to see them play. But what are they going to do for the PoS fans. Do they want to be there for generations?  Or take the road of Futgof, Mau Pau, ASL, etc and all the clubs that have folded or struggling in NFA. Where are they playing their games ?

[Flex]

Police FC wins but Rangers stay out front.
By Walter Alibey (Guardian).

Po­lice FC got a sin­gle strike from Chris­t­ian Thomas to pull-off a 1-0 win over De­fence Force in the Aber­crom­bie Group of the First Cit­i­zens Cup play-off at the Diego Mar­tin Sports Com­plex on Fri­day night.

How­ev­er, a ris­ing pow­er­house in lo­cal foot­ball Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers has as­sumed the top po­si­tion in the group by beat­ing W Con­nec­tion, the mul­ti-times pro league cham­pi­ons in the fea­ture match of a dou­ble head­er at the Ato Boldon Sta­di­um in Bal­main Cou­va 2-0.

Aikim An­drews scored a brace in the 64th and 83rd to hand the team be­long­ing to T&T Foot­ball As­so­ci­a­tion's pres­i­dent can­di­date Richard Fer­gu­son the three points, and their sec­ond win in as many match­es.

The re­sult took Ter­minix to six points from two games with W Con­nec­tion three points be­hind.

The Savonet­ta Boys (W Con­nec­tion) were hop­ing to build on their vic­to­ry last week, but An­drews' spoil their plans.

Teams are re­quired to be among the top two in each group to ad­vance to the semi­fi­nal and then fi­nal.

Mean­while, in the Im­mortelle Group AC Port-of-Spain, pre­vi­ous­ly North East Stars, played to a 2-2 tie with Mor­vant Cale­do­nia Unit­ed. Rashad Hy­a­centh got a brace for the Port-of-Spain men in the 11th and 63rd. How­ev­er, goals from Ker­ry Daniel in the 32nd and Je­vick Mc Far­lane in the 43rd en­sure the teams shared the points.

In an­oth­er game strug­gling Cen­tral FC fi­nal­ly got off the mark with a 2-0 tri­umph of Point Fortin Civic in the ear­li­er match at the Ato Boldon Sta­di­um in Cou­va on Sat­ur­day.

Josi­ah Trim­ming­ham and Che Ben­ny were the ones on tar­get to se­cure vic­to­ry for their first win of the group.

First Citizens Cup results

(Friday 1 November)

AC POS 2 (Rashad Hyacenth 11, 83), Morvant Caledonia Utd 2 (Kerry Daniel 32, Jevick Mac Farlane 43) at Diego Martin Sporting Complex;

Police FC 1 (Christian Thomas 78), Defence Force 0 at Diego Martin Sporting Complex;

(Saturday 2 November)

Central FC 2 (Josiah Trimmingham 25, Che Benny 33), Point Fortin Civic 0 at Ato Boldon Stadium;

W Connection 0, Terminix La Horquetta Rangers 2 (Aikim Andrews 64, 83) at Ato Boldon Stadium.

Upcoming fixtures

(Sunday 3 November)

Tobago Phoenix FC vs Tiger Tanks Club Sando, 4pm, Hasely Crawford Stadium;

San Juan Jabloteh vs Cunupia FC, 6pm, at Hasely Crawford Stadium.

[asylumseeker]

WATCH: Highlights of Terminix La Horqueta Rangers' 2-0 win over W Connection. Match played on Saturday, November 2, 2019.

<a href="https://youtube.com/v/gvp9bCIkeJ8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://youtube.com/v/gvp9bCIkeJ8</a>

[Flex]

Jabloteh, Cunupia FC share spoils.
By Nigel Simon (Guardian).

Kevon 'Show­time" Wood­ley scored a penal­ty in the 82nd-minute that helped Cunu­pia FC sal­vaged a 2-2 draw with San Juan Jobloteh in the First Cit­i­zens Cup at the Hase­ly Craw­ford Sta­di­um, Mu­cu­rapo on Sun­day.

Cunu­pia FC led 1-0 at the half-time whis­tle af­ter for­mer na­tion­al youth play­er, Xavie Ra­jpual scored in the 36th, but in the sec­ond half, Jair Ed­wards drew Jabloteh lev­el in the 48th minute while Josi­ah Baird fired in the de­ci­sive item in the 55th.

How­ev­er, with eight min­utes left in the match, Wood­ley con­vert­ed from the penal­ty spot to earn his team a de­served point.

The draw left Jabloteh top of the six-team round-robin Im­mortelle Group stand­ing with four points from two match­es, two more than AC Port-of-Spain and Tiger Tanks Club San­do.

In the open­ing match at Mu­cu­rapo, 1976 To­ba­go Phoenix and Tiger Tanks Club San­do drew goal­less.

The tour­na­ment is be­ing con­test­ed via a round-robin for­mat with two groups of six teams each.

At the end of the round-robin phase, the top two teams from each group will ad­vance to the se­mi-fi­nal in­ which the win­ners of that round will earn the right to con­test the $75,000 win­ners' prize, while the run­ners-up with pock­et $25,000.

Mean­while, the league com­pe­ti­tion will of­fi­cial­ly kick-off the league af­ter close to a year of in­ac­tiv­i­ty on De­cem­ber 13, and will even­tu­al­ly be called the 'As­cen­sion Pro League' as mem­ber clubs and the Board of Di­rec­tors of the Pro League, have agreed to have As­cen­sion spon­sor it this year while dis­cus­sions are still on-go­ing with Sports­Max and the T&T Foot­ball As­so­ci­a­tion to join.

Pro League of­fi­cials are al­so lis­ten­ing to the foot­ball as­so­ci­a­tion to have the Sec­ond Tier com­pe­ti­tion or­gan­ised in time for the of­fi­cial start of the pro league on De­cem­ber 13.

RE­SULTS

Yes­ter­day

1976 To­ba­go Phoenix 0 vs Club San­do 0

San Juan Jabloteh 2 (Jair Ed­wards 48th, Josi­ah Baird 55th) vs Cunu­pia FC 1 (Xavier Ra­j­paul 36th, Kevon Wood­ley 82nd pen)

On Fri­day

AC Port-of-Spain 2 (Rashad Hy­a­centh 11th, 83rd) vs Mor­vant Cale­do­nia AIA 2 (Ker­ry Daniel 32nd, Je­vick Mc Far­lane 43d)

Po­lice FC 1 (Chris­t­ian Thomas 78th) vs De­fence Force 0

Sat­ur­day

Cen­tral FC 2 (Josi­ah Trim­ming­ham 25th, Che ben­ny 33rd) vs Pt Fortin Civic 0

La Hor­quet­ta Rangers 2 (Aikim An­drews 64th, 83rd) vs W Con­nec­tion

Lat­est Group Stand­ings

Aber­crom­bie Group

Teams*P*W*D*L*F*A*Pts
1. L.H Rangers*2*2*0*0*3*0*6
2. W Con­nec­tion*2*1*0*1*3*2*3
3. Cen­tral FC*2*1*0*1*2*1*3
4. De­fence Force*2*1*0*1*1*1*3
5. Po­lice FC*2*1*0*1*1*1*3
6. Pt Fortin Civic*2*0*0*2*0*5*0

Im­mortelle Group

Teams*P*W*D*L*F*A*Pts
1. Jabloteh*2*1*1*0*5*2*4
2. Cunu­pia FC*2*1*1*0*3*2*4
3. AC PoS*2*0*2*0*3*3*2
4. Club San­do*2*0*2*0*1*1*2
5. Mor­vant Cale­do­nia*2*0*1*1*2*3*1
6. To­ba­go Phoenix*2*0*1*1*0*3*1

[asylumseeker]

WATCH: Highlights of Cunupia vs San Juan Jabloteh.


<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/LgCvX81zJno" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/LgCvX81zJno</a>

[Flex]

Rangers notch third straight win in First Citizens Cup.
By Joel Bailey (Newsday).

TERMINIX LA Horquetta Rangers notched their third straight win, in the Abercrombie Group, of the First Citizens Cup.

In a Match Day Three encounter on Saturday, at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Rangers cruised past the cellar-placed Point Fortin Civic 5-2.

Tyrone Charles scored a double, in the 48th and 67th minutes, with Jomoul Francois (13th), Akim Andrews (46th) and Ross Russell jnr (77th) chipping in with one apiece.

There were two other matches in the Abercrombie Group, at the Diego Martin Sporting Complex, on Friday.

Central FC and Police played to a 2-2 draw in the first encounter. Shakiel Henry put Central FC in front after four minutes but Police fought back with goals from Christian Thomas (26th) and Kemron Purcell (42nd).

However, Sean Bonval netted for Central, three minutes into the second half, to ensure a share of the points.

The second game at Diego Martin also ended with a 2-2 draw, featuring Defence Force and W Connection.

Brent Sam (ninth) and Shaquille Bertrand (26th) were the goal-getters for Defence Force, while Briel Thomas (12th) and Adan Noel (50th) responding for Connection.

Three games were contested in the Immortelle Group.

In the latter of back-to-back matches, on Saturday, Tiger Tanks Club Sando earned a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over San Juan Jabloteh.

Bevon Bass scored an own goal, at the stroke of half-time, to give Jabloteh a 1-0 half-time lead, but Nion Lammy (53rd) and Kemuel Rivers (55th – penalty) replied as Club Sando went 2-1 up.

Jabloteh equalised in the 56th courtesy of Renaldo Francois, but Kareem Blake-Williams recorded the winner, in the 86th.

In an Immortelle Group double-header at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Sunday, Cunupia FC and AC Port of Spain (formerly North East Stars) drew 0-0 while Morvant/Caledonia United and 1976 FC Tobago Phoenix battled to a 2-2 draw.

Lejandro Williams (eighth) and Sherwin Lovell (16th) gave Phoenix the lead, but Caledonia fought back with goals from Kerry Daniel (66th) and Tev Lawrence (89th).

[Tallman]

Rangers aim for fourth straight win
By Joel Bailey (T&T Newsday)

TERMINIX La Horquetta Rangers will be aiming for a fourth straight win, in the Abercrombie Group of the First Cup, when they face Defence Force in the latter game of a double-header today.

This game is set for 8 pm at the Diego Martin Sporting Complex, and features Rangers, who have a 100-per cent record, and Defence Force, who are fourth on the six-team group with four points.

Earlier, at 6 pm, San Juan Jabloteh and AC Port of Spain will face off in an Immortelle Group contest.

Tomorrow, in the Abercrombie Group, Point Fortin Civic and Police are set to meet at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella from 3.15 pm and, 24 hours later, Cunupia FC and 1976 FC Phoenix will oppose each other at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Arima.

A double-header is carded for Wednesday, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo. Morvant Caledonia AIA will meet Tiger Tanks Club Sando from 6 pm and, two hours later, W Connection will square off against Central FC.

[Flex]

Corbin's double keeps Rangers perfect.
By Rachael Thompson-King (Guardian).

Kadeem Corbin's dou­ble and goals from Isa­iah Lee and Ja­maal Crieghton earned Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers a 4-1 win against De­fence Force on Match­day four in the First Cit­i­zen's Cup Foot­ball tour­na­ment at the Diego Mar­tin Sport­ing Com­plex on Fri­day night.

Rangers, who con­ced­ed a late goal scored by De­vorn Jorsling, have 12 points from four match­es to lead the Aber­crom­bie Group six-team stand­ings with an un­blem­ished record. De­fence Force is in fifth place, on four points.

Play in the first half was bal­anced with nei­ther sides find­ing the back of the net with the match seemed head­ing for a first-half goal­less con­clu­sion be­fore Isa­iah Lee scored the open­er in the 45th, gift­ing the La Hor­quet­ta-based team with a 1-0 lead on the stroke of the in­ter­val.

Corbin dou­bled the tal­ly, a minute in­to the sec­ond half with an item in the 46th. He was at it again some 16 min­utes lat­er re­turn­ing in the 62nd to net his sec­ond item and put Rangers fur­ther ahead, 3-0.

Crieghton joined his team­mates on the score­sheet, scor­ing Rangers' fourth and fi­nal goal in the 80th.

The army/coast­guard team grabbed a con­so­la­tion goal in the 83rd thanks to Jorsling in the sec­ond match of a dou­ble-head­er.

Ear­li­er, San Juan Jabloteh fought back from two goals down against AC Port of Spain to draw 2-2 in the Im­mortelle Group of the Cup but re­mains ahead on their six-team ta­ble with five points tied with sec­ond-placed Tiger Tanks Club San­do and third-placed Cunu­pia FC but leads on goal dif­fer­ence.

AC Port-of-Spain, which was hop­ing to earn its first win of the sea­son, went ahead when Sedale McLean opened the scor­ing in the 14th. His team­mate Kerdell Samuel then scored in the 20th to put their team up 2-0.

Jabloteh's Kendall Hit­lal (39th) pulled one back some six mu­nites be­fore half­time to make it 2-1.

On the re­sump­tion, the San Juan unit and leader of the group re­gained some com­po­sure and put pres­sure on AC Port of Spain’s back­line in the sec­ond half. It was Shakeil John, who got the equal­iz­er in the 69th.

The re­sult leaves AC Port of Spain in fourth place in the Im­mortelle Group with four points, co­in­ci­den­tal­ly from four draws from as many match­es.

FRI­DAY'S RE­SULTS

At Diego Mar­tin Sport­ing Com­plex

San Juan Jabloteh 2 (Kendall Hit­lal 39th, Shakeil John 69th) vs AC Port of Spain 2 (Sedale McLean 14th, Kerdell Samuel 20th)

Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers 4 (Isa­iah Lee 45th, Kadeem Corbin 46th, 62nd, Ja­maal Crieghton 80th) vs De­fence Force 1 (De­vorn Jorsling 83rd)

STAND­INGS

ABER­CROM­BIE GROUP

Pl Teams P W D L GF GA GD Points
1 Ter­minix/La Hor­quet­ta Rangers 4 4 0 0 12 3 9 12
2 W Con­nec­tion FC 3 1 1 1 5 4 1 4
3 Cen­tral FC 3 1 1 1 4 3 1 4
4 Po­lice FC 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
5 De­fence Force FC 4 1 1 2 4 7 -3 4
6 Point Fortin Civic FC 3 0 0 3 2 10 -8 0

IM­MORTELLE GROUP

Pl Teams P W D L GF GA GD Points
1 San Juan Jabloteh 4 1 2 1 9 7 2 5
2 Tiger Tanks Club San­do 3 1 2 0 4 3 1 5
3 Cunu­pia FC 3 1 2 0 3 2 1 5
4 AC Port-of-Spain 4 0 4 0 5 5 0 4
5 Mor­vant/Cale­do­nia Unit­ed 3 0 2 1 4 5 -1 2
6 1976 FC To­ba­go Phoenix 3 0 2 1 2 5 -3 2

[asylumseeker]

WATCH: Cunupia takes the lead in First Citizen competition

<a href="https://youtube.com/v/VNxwP7Tvdf8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://youtube.com/v/VNxwP7Tvdf8</a>

[Tallman]

Club Sando improves bid for semis
By Walter Alibey (T&T Guardian)

Tiger Tank Club San­do has moved with­in touch­ing dis­tance of se­cur­ing a place in the semi­fi­nal round of the First Cit­i­zens Cup.

Need­ing to be among the top two teams to ad­vance out of the Im­mortelle Group, the south­ern­ers whipped Mor­vant Cale­do­nia Unit­ed 4-2 Wednes­day night to move to eight points, and draw lev­el with lead­ers Cunu­pia FC which en­joy a su­pe­ri­or goal dif­fer­ence for the top spot.

Keron Corn­wall's hat-trick in the 49th, 85th and 92nd min­utes, cou­pled with an­oth­er item by Kevon Williams in the 35th sealed the Club San­do vic­to­ry.

Now with just one more round of match­es to go, both Club San­do and Cunu­pia need a point each to ad­vance to the fi­nal four.

Third-place San Juan Jabloteh, with five points is the on­ly team that can move to eight with a vic­to­ry over Cale­do­nia Unit­ed to­mor­row at the Ato Boldon Sta­di­um in Cou­va from 4 pm.

In the Aber­crom­bie Group, Cen­tral FC has al­so made a strong bid for one of two top po­si­tions by beat­ing W Con­nec­tion 2-1 at the Hase­ly Craw­ford Sta­di­um in Mu­cu­rapo. Shirio John­son and Niel Williams found the nets to se­cure full points for the win­ners.

The re­sult took the cen­tral men to sev­en points in the third po­si­tion but still in need of a vic­to­ry in their fi­nal game to ad­vance, as sec­ond-place Po­lice are al­so on sev­en.

Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Ranger has al­ready sealed the top spot in the group with 12 points, which means that they can­not be caught.

WEDNES­DAY'S RE­SULTS

Tiger Tanks Club San­do 4 (Kevon Williams 35th, Keron Corn­wall 49th, 85th, 90+2) vs Mor­vant Cale­do­nia Unit­ed 2 (Joshua Alexan­der 78th, Raphael Joseph 87th).

Cen­tral FC 2 (Shirio John­son 32nd, Noel Williams 70th) vs W Con­nec­tion 1 (Adan Noel 45th)

TO­DAY'S MATCH­ES

AC Port of Spain vs 1976 To­ba­go Phoenix, 6 pm @ Diego Mar­tin Com­plex
Po­lice FC vs W Con­nec­tion, 8pm @ Diego Mar­tin Com­plex

SAT­UR­DAY

Cale­do­nia Unit­ed vs San Juan Jabloteh, 4 pm @ Ato Boldon
Cen­tral FC vs Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers, 6 pm @ Ato Boldon

MON­DAY

De­fence Force vs Point Fortin Civic, 6 pm @ Hase­ly Craw­ford
Cunu­pia FC vs Tiger Tank Club San­do, 8 pm @ Hase­ly Craw­ford

LAT­EST STAND­INGS

Aber­crom­bie Group Stand­ings

POS*Teams*P*W*D*L*GF*GA*GD*Points

1*Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers*4*4*0*0*12*3*9*12
2*Po­lice FC*4*2*1*1*8*3*5*7
3*Cen­tral FC*4*2*1*1*6*4*2*7
4*W Con­nec­tion FC*4*1*1*2*6*6*0*4
5*De­fence Force FC*4*1*1*2*4*7*-3*4
6*Point Fortin Civic FC*4*0*0*4*2*15*-13*0

Im­mortelle Group Stand­ings

POS*Teams*P*W*D*L*GF*GA*GD*Points

1*Cunu­pia FC*4*2*2*0*6*2*4*8
2*Tiger Tanks Club San­do*4*2*2*0*8*5*3*8
3* San Juan Jabloteh*4*1*2*1*9*7*2*5
4*AC Port of Spain*4*0*4*0*5*5*0*4
5*Mor­vant/Cale­do­nia Unit­ed*4*0*2*2*6*9*-3*2
6*1976 FC To­ba­go Phoenix*4*0*2*2*2*8*-6*2

[Flex]

Police stays in First Citizens semis hunt.
By Nigel Simon (Guardian).

Chris­t­ian Thomas fired in the lone goal as Po­lice FC strength­ened their claim for a spot in this year’s First Cit­i­zens Cup semi­fi­nals with a 1-0 tri­umph over record eight-time win­ners W Con­nec­tion at the Diego Mar­tin Sport­ing Com­plex, Bagatelle, Diego Mar­tin, on Fri­day night.

Thomas got the de­ci­sive item in the 39th minute to car­ry the Law­men to ten points from their five match­es in the six-club Aber­crom­bie Group, two be­hind the al­ready qual­i­fied Ter­minix La Hor­quet­ta Rangers, who faced Cen­tral FC in their fi­nal round-robin match last night at the Ato Boldon Sta­di­um in Cou­va.

To qual­i­fy for the semi­fi­nals ahead of Po­lice, the Cou­va Sharks, as Cen­tral FC are more pop­u­lar­ly known to their fans, need­ed a win by five clear goals over Rangers. With the de­feat, W Con­nec­tion end­ed with four points and are out of the ti­tle race now un­able to add to their string of ti­tles in the com­pe­ti­tion, the last of which came in 2017.

De­fence Force al­so have four points from four match­es ahead of their fi­nal match against point­less Pt Fortin Civic on Mon­day at the Hase­ly Craw­ford Sta­di­um, Mu­cu­rapo, with both teams out of con­tention as well.

In the open­ing match on Fri­day, Ko­rdell Samuel and Ri­val­do Cory­at were both on tar­get to lead AC Port-of-Spain to a come-from-be­hind 2-1 win against 1976 FC To­ba­go Phoenix in the Im­mortelle Group.

Levi Trim had giv­en To­ba­go Phoenix a fourth-minute lead on­ly for Samuel (40th) and Cory­at (82nd) to hit back as AC Port-of-Spain took all three points to go third on the ta­ble with sev­en points from their five match­es, one be­hind Cunu­pia FC and Tiger Tanks Club San­do.

Third-placed Jabloteh with five points are the on­ly team who can de­ny ei­ther Cunu­pia or Club San­do their places in the semi­fi­nal, but must beat Mor­vant Cale­do­nia AIA in their fi­nal match by a com­fort­able mar­gin and hope ei­ther Cunu­pia or Club San­do win when they face off on Mon­day in the sec­ond match at Mu­cu­rapo from 8 pm.

Scores:

Fri­day

AC PORT-OF-SPAIN 2 (Ko­rdell Samuel 40th, Ri­val­do Cory­at 82nd) v 1976 FC TO­BA­GO PHOENIX 1 (Levi Trim 4th)

PO­LICE FC 1 (Chris­t­ian Thomas 39th) v W CON­NEC­TION FC 0

Up­com­ing match­es:

(No­vem­ber 25)

Venue: Hase­ly Craw­ford Sta­di­um, Mu­cu­rapo

De­fence Force v Pt Fortin Civic, 6 pm

Cunu­pia FC v Tiger Tank Club San­do, 8 pm