Pro League (PL) leaders W Connection are one of many teams eager to get the ball rolling again following a lengthy layoff, most recently due to flooding a fortnight ago which affected many parts of Trinidad and Tobago.
PL fixtures resume on Tuesday with double-headers in Couva and Port-of-Spain as the race for the league crown hits the final stretch with six match days left.
Connection will clash with Couva rivals Central from 6pm in a top-of-the-table tie at Ato Boldon Stadium before Club Sando host Point Fortin Civic from 8pm.
Simultaneously at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Morvant Caledonia United will face cellar-placed Terminix St. Ann’s Rangers from 6pm before San Juan Jabloteh and Police FC tackle each other from 8pm.
Connection (28 points) leads the PL standings by five points with Central and Police FC both on 23 points in second and third positions, respectively, with the top-two finishers earning berths at the Concacaf Caribbean Club Championship.
Striker Marcus Joseph is expected to return for Connection against his ex-club Central after being sidelined since suffering an injury during the “Savonetta Boys”’ shock 1-1 result at North East Stars on Sep. 22.
Since then Connection have only managed just one win from their last four games, with their last two ending in drawn results against Sando and Police, though maintaining an unbeaten league status this season after 12 games.
Central meanwhile picked up two wins from their last four, with one loss and a 2-2 draw last time out against Sando.
“We are still on top in the league and that it the most important thing at this stage,” Connection Head Coach Stuart Charles Fevrier said two weeks ago.
Fevrier admitted, however, being without Joseph, the leading scorer this season, proved difficult for the “Savonetta Boys”. “We were in a better situation with Marcus (Joseph) but football is a game of solving problems.”
Joseph, one of the leading contenders for the league Golden Boot tied on 11 goals with Central’s Akim Armstrong, has been instrumental in Connection’s push this season for an unprecedented sixth league title since the turn of the professional era in 1999. Joseph has scored 18 times in all competitions this season with three of his items a hat-trick scored in a 6-1 triumph over his former employers Central when both sides met in round one in the league on Aug. 18.
But although Connection defeated Couva Sharks comfortably the last time both teams met, Fevrier is mindful that no two games are the same. “Football is on the day,” he reminded. “On that day we got the better of them. Central are a good team and we cannot dwell on the last game against them or any other team.”
Elsewhere, Police FC Coach Richard Hood must however do without suspended talisman Kareem Freitas due to card accumulation. The forward scored 15 times in all competitions this season with 9 of them league goals, the same as Sando’s Tyrone Charles as the pair are two adrift of Joseph and Armstrong.
Jabloteh edged Police 2-1 when both sides met in Round One on Aug. 18, but since then the “Lawmen” are undefeated in nine consecutive outings.
Pro League 2018
Round Two Match Day Four
(Tuesday 30 October)
W Connection vs Central FC, 6 pm at Ato Boldon Stadium;
Club Sando vs Point Fortin Civic, 8 pm at Mannie Ramjohn Stadium;
Morvant Caledonia United vs Terminix St. Ann’s Rangers, 6 pm at Hasely Crawford Stadium;
San Juan Jabloteh vs Police FC, 8 pm at Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Pro League 2018 standings
# Team MP W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 W Connection 12 8 4 0 30 6 24 28
2 Central FC 12 7 2 3 31 20 11 23
3 Police FC 12 7 2 3 24 13 11 23
4 Defence Force FC 12 6 2 4 28 16 12 20
5 San Juan Jabloteh 12 6 2 4 17 14 3 20
6 Club Sando 12 5 3 4 22 18 -2 18
7 Morvant Caledonia Utd 12 3 6 3 24 17 7 15
8 Point Fortin Civic 12 2 2 8 14 24 -10 8
9 North East Stars 12 1 3 8 11 33 -22 6
10 Terminix St. Ann’s Rangers 12 2 0 10 6 46 -40 6