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Fri, Mar

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It’s down to the wire for Digicel Pro League clubs T&TEC FC and Caledonia AIA in contest for a final Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championship qualifying spot with W Connection already snapping up one of the two spots.

W Connection leads the qualifying table with 21 points and faces Police FC on Tuesday afternoon from 8pm at the Ato Boldon Stadium, two points ahead of T&TEC and Caledonia (19 points).

NOTE: The qualifying table runs till the end of Round Two Match Day Seven of the Digicel Pro League Championship with points attained against Defence Force and Police FC in Round One matches not tallied.

T&TEC and Caledonia, only separated by goals difference, will face each other from 8pm in the second clash of a double header at the Larry Gomes Stadium—definitely the biggest meeting of the two clubs this season since the Final of the First Citizens Cup last October which Caledonia won 2-1 courtesy a pair of Kareem Joseph goals.

Since then the two teams met again in Round One of the League Championship in December and T&TEC stunned the Morvant/Laventille club to a 2-0 win with second half strikes by Kurlon Ferguson and Andrei Pacheco.

Caledonia definitely needs a win with a lesser goals difference, while a draw will see T&TEC join W Connection as the two Trinidad and Tobago clubs representing the twin-island republic at the CFU Club Championship which is scheduled to begin in March.

While Caledonia, equipped with the likes of strikers Jamal Gay, Conrad Smith, Trevin Caesar, midfielders Trayon Bobb, Stephan David, Abdallah Phillips, defenders Aquil Selby, Nuru Abdallah Muhammad, Kareem Joseph and Sheldon Emmanuel, remains in need for victory. It is T&TEC that suffered an upset defeat two days before Tuesday’s crucial clash.

The Dexter Cyrus coached ‘Electric Boys’ suffered a 1-0 defeat against Super League side St. Francois Nationals in the FA Trophy second round on Sunday at the Queen’s Park Oval, however Cyrus remains unshaken by the defeat.

“We’re going into the game to win,” he said. “And there isn’t any other way you can put it to the players.

We want to qualify for the CFU, so we have to deal with the pressures that come with it. If you want to play big football you have to play to win. It’s as simple as that.”

“Nothing could affect us at this point,” continued the T&TEC coach. “…because the guys want to win and be one of the teams representing Trinidad and Tobago in the CFU.

They (St. Francois) won on the day because our players’ focus was on Tuesday’s game. The magnitude of Tuesday’s game (against Caledonia) is so huge, that there wasn’t anything I could do to motivate the guys against St. Francois.

I think we have a formidable team. We also have a lot of depth and I am always optimistic. The management has also given the players a lot of confidence ahead of Tuesday’s game. It’s certain that Caledonia wants the win as well, so we just have to wait until the 90 minutes is over to know the result,” ended Cyrus.

T&TEC with a two-goal goals difference advantage boasts the likes of strikers Kerry Baptiste, Kurlon Ferguson, Andre Toussaint, midfielders Andrei Pacheco, Sylvester Teesdale, Romauld Aguillera and defenders Corneal Thomas, Akeem Adams, Kern Peters and Anthony Noriega which definitely predicts an action packed contest against the Jamaal Shabazz coached Caledonia AIA.

Prior to the Caledonia, T&TEC contest, North East Stars will take on Defence Force from 6pm at the Malabar venue in a rescheduled Round Two Match Day Four fixture.

Standings

P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
Q - W Connection  12  7  0  5  11  11  21
San Juan Jabloteh  13  5  5  3  19  15  20
Caledonia AIA  13  6  2  5  17  16  20
T&TEC  11  5  4  2  14  9  19
Defence Force  9  3  4  2  12  10  13
North East Stars  12  3  3  6  11  14  12
St Anns Rangers  12  3  3  6  12  18  12
Police FC  8  1  3  4  10  13  6