Caledonia AIA made a winning start to their Caribbean Club Championship campaign with a 1-0 win over Newtown United at Warner Park in St. Kitts, on Thursday night.
After controlling the game in midfield for most of the first half Caledonia could not find a way to get past Newtown's custodian Akeil Byron.
Byron denied Keyon Edwards, Densill Theobald and Ryan Stewart all from point blank range, to carry his team into the interval 0-0.
In the 53rd minute Caledonia would break the deadlock when Kareem Joseph's overlap and deft cross found the head of Jean Luc Rochford whose strike eluded a diving Byron.
This seemed to spur on Newtown, and urged on by a vociferous and partisan crowd they took the fight to Caledonia. But Caledonia's defence, marshalled by Daneil Cyrus and Nuru Muhammad, held Newtown at bay for the game to end 1-0 in favour of Caledonia.
Commenting on his team's victory coach Jamaal Shabazz said:
"A win away from home is always a good result and it's a fitting reward for the guys.
They sacrificed the Carnival festivities and this win has taught us that hard work and dedication does bear fruit.
"Our ball movement and possession was good and I think this is what gave us superiority in the game. But at times we overpassed especially in the attacking third where I thought we could have looked for a shot or a penetrative cross.
"We do have our work cut out to prepare for the return game. Newtown has some decent players and a lot of fighting spirit. We are not going to take them lightly at all," Shabazz ended.
Caledonia AIA host Newtown United on Saturday from 7.30 p.m. at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, in Port of Spain.