Post by Admin on Sept 18, 2023 4:19:48 GMT
Defence Force, Cavalier share Caribbean Cup honours
by
GYASI MERRIQUE
23 days ago
20230826
www.guardian.co.tt/sports/defence-force-cavalier-share-caribbean-cup-honours-6.2.1784888.aff7567ff1
Defence Force FC’s Kaihim Thomas rises above Cavaliers FC’ Christopher Ainsworth during the Concacaf Caribbean Cup match between Defence Force FC (T&T) and Cavaliers FC (Jamaica) at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Trinidad and Tobago. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Daniel Prentice
Defence Force could not make home advantage count when they kicked off their Concacaf Caribbean Club Cup quest with a 1-1 draw against Jamaica’s Cavalier F.C at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, Port-of-Spain on Thursday night.
A grateful audience estimated at around 5,000 fans watched the two teams clash in Group A of the competition, welcoming the return of Caribbean club football in T&T.
This was the first time in five years that a Caribbean Club match was being played in T&T since Group H of what was then the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Caribbean Club Championship was hosted here in February 2018. Local team W. Connection was the last to perform in front of home fans in a 3-0 defeat to Dominican Republic’s Atletico Pantoja at the Ato Boldon Stadium. Jamaica’s Arnett Gardens F.C. and Haiti’s Real Hope were also in that group.
Cavalier generated the first chance against the soldiers when lanky midfielder Shaniel Thomas’ right-footed shot skimmed wide of Christopher Biggette’s upright in the 5th minute.
However, a minute later, Defence Force in their familiar gold and blue uniforms took the lead when left full-back Jelani Felix played a through ball down the left side to release Reon Moore. The T&T international raced onto it to push past one desperate lunge from Cavalier central defender Adrian Reid before tucking a low shot beyond Cavalier goalkeeper Vino Barclett.
In the 14th minute, Cavalier went in search of an equaliser and produced a carbon copy of the Defence Force play that led to the opening goal. Thomas threaded the pass towards Ronaldo Robinson, who outpaced central defender and captain Jamali Garcia, but Biggette pulled off a save to deny the Cavalier forward.
The next big chance of the game came in the 32nd minute. Moore, having switched flanks with Kaihim Thomas, popped up on the right side of the Cavalier penalty box to force Barclett into action with a low, right-footed blast.
Then in the 33rd, the Defence Force trio of Felix, forward Brent Sam, and midfielder Justin Sadoo worked a neat exchange of passes on the left side, with Sadoo cutting the ball back to Sam at the edge of the area. However, the shot was easily dealt with by Barclett.
The old adage about playing with food came to mind when Cavalier won a penalty in the 38th minute. A wayward lofted cross-field pass by new Defence Force recruit Isaiah Garcia was intercepted by Robinson, who threaded a pass through to Thomas (S) on the run. As he bore down on the opposition goal, Bigette was drawn into a rash tackle, catching the feet of Thomas, who went to the ground and gave referee Shavin Green of Guyana an easy decision.
Thomas dusted himself off and converted the penalty himself in the 39th minute to level the scores again.
That goal gave life to the visitors, who immediately threatened to take the lead from an Orlando Russell diving header, had the Cavalier forward timed his run better onto a ball over the top of the Defence Force backline from Shamar Watson. Offside was the call.
And at the very end of one additional minute in the first half, Biggette had to be watchful to keep out Gadail Irving’s long-range shot and to keep the scores tied at 1-1 at halftime.
Rather than finding a way to be more assertive in the second half, the Defence Force was quite stagnant, often failing to make the obvious runs or passes and turning over possession in key phases of play.
In the 51st minute, Jamali Garcia was indifferent to dealing with a backward header by his namesake and central defensive partner Justin. With Biggette also uncertain whether to advance or retreat, Russell saw an opportunity to challenge and force a turnover, with the ball falling to Thomas (S), whose shot from 20 yards out was headed away by Jamali before being cleared away.
The match lacked any real quality for most of the second period until the local team was able to produce their best chance since Moore’s opening goal. In the 68th minute, Garcia (I), who was also often guilty of hesitating to support the attack, made a rare gallop forward and was played through on goal by Sadoo. But with Barclett at his mercy, the former Point Fortin Civic Centre man decided against the shot and instead played a low cross, which was emphatically cleared away.
As things grew more and more desperate, Moore had shouts for a handled ball in the box waived away by referee Greene in the 70th minute, and three minutes later, the same player drove into the Cavalier penalty area on the right side and, with several options across the face of goal, scoffed his attempted cross.
It summed up the night for the soldiers, who had to settle for a share of the points at the end of regulation time in a 1-1 draw with Cavalier and ahead of an away fixture against Martnique’s Golden Lion F.C on Wednesday, August 30th.
Meanwhile, Manuel Vidal scored to lead Dominican Republic side Moca FC to a 1-0 victory over T&T’s AC Port-of-Spain in their Group B rescheduled fixture at the Estadio Cibao in Santiago De Los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, yesterday.
TEAM
Defence Force Starting XI
31 Christopher Biggette, 3 Isaiah Garcia, 7 Jelani Felix, 8 Brent Sam, 18 Reon Moore, 21 Justin Sadoo, 23 Jamali Garcia (c), 26 Justin Garcia, 28 Nathaniel Garcia, 45 Kaihim Thomas, 66 Kevon Goddard.
Substitutes
80 Jabari St. Hillaire, 5 Jerome Mc Intyre, 6 Rodell Elcock, 11 Dwight Quintero (86’ Brent Sam), 13 Rivaldo Coryat (77’ Justin Sadoo), 14 Kendell Hitlal (77 Kaihim Thomas), 15 Shaquille Bertrand, 17 Curtis Gonzales, 24 Shaquille Holder, 25 Darnell Hospedales, 34 Keilon Burnett-Acevaro, 37 Cassim Kellar.
Cavalier F.C Starting XI
1 Vino Barclett, 4 Shamar Watson, 8 Nickache Murray, 11 Christopher Ainsworth, 13 Dwayne Allen, 15 Kyle Ming (c), 16 Orlando Russell, 17 Shaniel Thomas, 18 Ronaldo Robinson, 19 Adrian Reid, 20 Gadail Irving
Substitutes
31 Jeadine White, 3 Makenson Cadet, 12 Ronaldo Barrett (60’ Nickache Murray), 21 Kymani Silvera, 22 Brian Joshua Elshot, 24 Mario Smith, 25 Jalmaro Calvin (81’ Shamar Watson), 27 Jerome Mcleary (60’ - 16 Orlando Russell)
REMAINING FIXTURES
Wednesday, August 30
• ↓Golden Lion vs Defence Force, Pierre Aliker Stadium, Fort De France, 6.06 pm.
Thursday, August 31
• ↓Cavalier FC vs AC Port-of-Spain, Sabina Park Stadium, Kingston, 6.06 pm.
Wednesday, September 20
• ↓AC Port-of-Spain vs Golden Lion, Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, 6.06 pm.
Thursday, September 28
• ↓AC Port-of-Spain vs Defence Force, Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, 6.06 pm.
Wednesday, October 4
• ↓Defence Force vs Moca FC, Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, 8.06 pm