W Connection and Morvant Caledonia United will meet in a showdown for the Lucozade Sport Goal Shield today from 6 pm at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
It will be a first meeting between the teams in a final in four years, which the Morvant men won 4-3 on penalties to claim the Caribbean Club Championship at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium- 2012. United have been trophy-less this year and hope to replicate their triumph in the feature game of a double header. In the first match United’s Under-16 proteges will face their counterparts San Juan Jabloteh in the Flow Youth Pro League fixture at 4 pm.
Both teams pride themselves on attractive play but Connection skipper Hughton Hector warned anything can happen for today’s final. According to the T&T international “We both play the same type of football in passing the ball around which is easier than the long balls style of other teams, but you never know what can happen with the title at stake. It can turn out a tough game because Caledonia is not a bad team. They trouble us at times, but I expect a tactical game and we have a good chance to win.”
Hector, who played professionally in Vietnam, explained that winning the Lucozade Sport Goal Shield will put his team in a good position to qualify for next season’s Concacaf Champions League and possibly win the Caribbean Club Championship when they travel to Haiti next week for the final round.
Connection assistant coach Earl Jean said the “Savonetta Boys” are spoilt on winning trophies and are motivated to win a third domestic trophy this season. To date they have won the First Citizens Cup and Toyota Classic and will be favoured to take home the Goal Shield silverware also.
Winners will be given a base prize of $30,000 and an additional $3,000 for every goal scored in the final. They will also receive $2,000 for every goal in the semi-finals and $1,000 for each goal scored in the quarter-finals.
The runners-up will walk away with a base prize of $10,000, $1,500 for every goal scored in the final, $1,000 for every goal in the semi-finals and $500 for each goal scored in the quarter-finals.
Yesterday Jerry Moe, the United coach warned his team is not the whipping boys they were earlier in the season and are fired up to go all the way.
Its captain Kareem Joseph said “There was the belief from the start that we can win the tournament and we want to play the same way in the final. We are a stronger unit now than we were earlier in the season, with a few good additions during in the January transfer window, such as Robert Primus, Leslie Russell and [Maestro] Mensah.” He added “We want to win the title and salvage something for Caledonia, not only for this season but for the last two seasons we have been in transition with a number of new players.”
After a slow start to the Digicel Pro League, the Morvant men made a dramatic climb from the bottom four at the start of the Goal Shield. They shut-out Club Sando 3-1 and later crushed giants Defence Force 5-1 in the quarter-finals before outscoring Police FC 3-1 from the penalty spot in the semifinals on their way to the final. Connection on the otherhand whipped North East Stars 4-1 in the quarters and disposed of champs Central FC 4-2 in the other semifinal encounter. Victory today will ensure them their third title for the season.