AC Port-of-Spain FC faces must-win clash with Grenades
T&T Premier Football League champions AC Port-of-Spain FC (AC PoS) will enter their penultimate match in Group B of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup against Antigua and Barbuda’s Jennings Grenades at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, from 6 pm Tuesday (September 17) evening in a must-win situation.
As it stands, Moca FC and fellow Dominican Republic outfit Cibao FC share the lead in the five-team round-robin Group B series with four points each from two matches, while Haiti’s Ouanaminthe FC and AC PoS are next with a point each, and Grenades are at the bottom of the table without a point.
In their two matches to date, AC Port-of-Spain FC battled to a 1-1 draw with Ouanaminthe FC on August 22, before squandering a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 loss to Moca FC on August 27, both at the Estadio Moca 85 in Moca, Dominican Republic and will need to secure maximum points in tonight’s encounter as well as in their final match next week against Cibao FC at the same Mucurapo venue to have any chance of qualification.
Grenades, the Caribbean Football Union Club Shield runners-up, who were beaten by Dominican Republic’s Cibao FC 2-1 in their lone match to date on August 28 are also in a must-win situation if they are to stay in the hunt to reach the semifinals as well.
Because of the rain yesterday, both teams had their mandatory one hour training session at the Hasely Crawford Training Pitch.
AC Port-of-Spain coach Walt Noriega was happy to welcome back T&T internationals, goalkeeper Denzil Smith and midfielder Duane Muckette into the fold their stint with the national team during the FIFA International window earlier in the month.
In addition to the duo, Noriega is expected to have a full compliments of players to choose from inclusive of Nathaniel Garcia, Marcus Joseph, Wesley John, Jameel Neptune, Michel Poon Angeron, who returned after a short spell with El Salvadoran Primera División club CD Fuerte San Francisco, John-Paul Rochford, scorer of both goals last time out, Shackiel Henry, Sedale Mc Lean, Haile Beckles, Che Benny, and Maurice Ford.
Noriega added, “Hopefully the work we have done in past three weeks bodes well.
Asked about his opponents, he said, “We got the opportunity to look at them play and we saw some their key players and its all about neutralizing their key players in certain parts of the pitch and again we just have to be resolute defensively and avoid defensive blunders.”
Team captain Duane Muckette who featured for T&T against French Guiana in the Concacaf Nations League League A match last week at the Dwight York Stadium, in Bacolet, Tobago said he was focused on the match.
“For me, it’s quick turn around from the national team and now my main focus is to get some positive results in the games coming up. I had a good couple days back in the team and I think we are ready.”
Muckette was also mindful of his team not squandering a good start as they have done in their two matches to date saying, It’s important that we start quickly, but more importantly that we manage the game for the 90 minutes better that we did over the first two matches. In the last two matches we started well, but we didn’t continue that momentum throughout,” ended Muckette.
Grenades coach Derrick Edwards and captain Quinton Griffth also expressed the importance of the match to their team having lost their opener.
Edwards said, “We are prepared and ready because we understand that it’s a game that we have to win. AC Port-of-Spain FC is a good team and we are here to put on a show for the fans and our fans back home.
Griffth added, “We didn’t have a good start in our first match but we now play AC Port-of-Spain FC and we have to come out and give them everything becauyse we need these three points.”
Last year, AC Port-of-Spain FC endured a miserable campaign on debut in the tournament, finishing bottom of their five-team round-robin Group A series with a lone point from a 1-1 draw against fellow T&T club Defence Force to show in four matches.
However, Noriega speaking ahead of tonight’s outing said, “For us, Tuesday will be all about getting it right, being resilient defensively, and the opportunities that we create. We need to take those chances and see out the match. The boys have done the work over the past three-week periods, and now I’m looking forward to seeing the performance and getting the win.”
Like AC Port-of-Spain, T&T Premier League runners-up Miscellaneous Police FC has one point from two matches in Group A after a 1-1 draw with Haiti’s Real Hope before a 4-1 loss to Jamaicans, Cavalier FC.
With the win Cavalier FC, the club of T&T winger Kaile Auvray, leads the five-team with a maximum of six points from two matches, three ahead of fellow Jamaican club Mount Pleasant, while Real Hope also has one point with Arnett Gardens, the third Jamaican club in the group, without a point.
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