Southern fan-favourite Point Fortin Civic Centre cruised into the quarterfinal round of the T&T Football Association (TTFA) FA Trophy competition, last evening, when it upset reigning champion Caledonia AIA, in a 3–0 win at Mahaica Oval, Point Fortin.
Caledonia, which ended with ten men after the 81st minute dismissal of Nuru Muhammad, continued a miserable run this season after recently being booted from the Toyota Classic competition by Super League’s Club Sando.
Muhammad was ejected from the match, when his team was already three goals down, after taking down a goal-bound Andre Toussaint of Point Fortin. Toussaint (66th) was among three different players on target for the winning team. Ancil Wells and Andrei Pacheco bagged the opener and the closing goal, respectively.
With the win, Point Fortin joins fellow TT Pro League outfit W Connection, which edged Police FC 1–0 into the last-eight stage. Central FC, which eased past the last remaining Secondary Schools Football League outfit, St Mary’s College, 5–0, also booked a place in the next round.
The three National Super League teams in action in the earlier matches also lit up the round, with Malabar taking a one-sided 5–1 win over T&T Prisons, while Guaya United scored in practically the last minute of the match through standout midfielder Leston Paul, who smashed home a right sided low cross from Kendes Garcia, at the edge of the six-yard box, in time added on.
Guaya almost shot itself in the foot after seeing a 2–0 half-time lead at St Anthony’s College Ground, Westmoorings, overturned by host Westside. Past St Anthony’s College players Travis Joseph and Jamali Garcia responded for Westside in the second half after Kheelon Mitchell and Kendes Garcia gave Guaya a first half advantage.
In Malabar’s win, it was the Hayden Tinto show once again, as the former T&T international netted twice in the first half to initiate the onslaught. Calvin Sheppard, another regular name on Malabar’s scoresheet also netted a brace, while Gorian “Ratty” Highley slotted home a penalty.
Prisons’ only goal came from Ricardo Alleyne on the hour-mark, before ending the match with ten men with Andre Mohammed 90th minute dismissal for two yellow cards. In the late matches yesterday, Petrotrin Palo Seco was to face Defence Force (NSL), Tunapuna Titans played North East Stars and QPCC met St Francois Nationals.
Results
[FA TROPHY ROUND OF 16]
Guaya United 3 (Kheelon Mitchell 33rd, Kendes Garcia 41st, Leston Paul 90th+3) vs Westside Superstarz 2 (Travis Joseph 47th, Jamali Garcia 56th pen)
W Connection 1 (Jomal Williams 52nd) vs Police 0
Central FC 5 (Rundell Winchester 17th, 35th, Keon Trim 44th, Darren Mitchell 86th, Hector Sam 88th) vs St Mary’s College 0
Point Fortin Civic Centre 3 (Ancil Wells 40th, Andre Toussaint 66th, Andrei Pacheco 76th) vs Caledonia AIA 0
Malabar FC 5 (Hayden Tinto 4th, 28th, Calvin Sheppard 34th, 66th, Gorian Highley 43rd pen) vs T&T Prisons 1 (Ricardo Alleyne 60th)
RELATED NEWS
High five Central beat CIC 5-0.
By Ian Prescott (Express).
The men were clearly separated from the boys.
St Mary’s College, North Zone champions and one of the top teams in the 2013 Secondary Schools Football league, were no match for Pro League side Central FC, when the teams met yesterday in a Trinidad and Tobago FA Trophy round of 16 match.
The “Saints” had home advantage, but little else, as they succumbed 5-0 to their older and more football-savvy opponents. Still, there were good signs for the future, in the skill of Rashad Hyacenth and the assuredness of CIC goalkeeper Christian Attong, who kept his team from total embarrassment with several key saves.
But yesterday was about “The Sharks,” mainly Rundell Winchester’ with his speed and decisive finishing, and also stifling defence, the trademark of former England defender Terry Fenwick, now Central FC coach. St Mary’s battled to stay in the match, and were only down 3-0 at half time, due mainly to defending in huge numbers, and good work from the goalkeeper. Much of the first period was spent blocking shots from Central FC. At the other end, CIC striker Chinua Bernard struggled to find a second’s peace with the ball, as Akeem Benjamin stuck to him like rain-soaked clothes.
Not much older than some of the schoolboys, 19-year-old T&T international Winchester stamped his class on the first half with a pair of goals in the 17th & 34th minutes. Keon Trim added a third in the 44th with a low shot to the near corner, and before the first half ended, midfielder Jason Marcano, who engineered most of the forward play, won and horribly missed a penalty, while Dwight Quintero put the ball into the net but had a goal ruled offside.
Winchester emphatically opened the scoring, hitting with power and curling to the far corner, and speed got him a second goal ,as he outran the defenders by such distance, that he had time to look up and stoke the ball wide inside the far post. In the second half, Darren Mitchell came on and hit low to the far post for a fourth goal, while Hector Sam made it 5-0 via a deflected free-kick off the defensive wall.
Fenwick did not exactly use his A-team, resting keeper Jan Michael Williams and regular midfielder Johan Peltier and Darren “Chucky” Mitchell. But the Englishman wasn’t generous either, playing the experienced Sam and Marvin Oliver, Jason Marcano, Elton John who have all worn T&T colours at some level.
For a while, St Mary’s defenders won lusty cheers when putting in some last-gasp tackles to foil Central.
Hyacenth also twice almost scored on nervous Sharks keeper Javon Sample. And Hyacenth even got a round of applause when he put in a disallowed goal . However, the best moment of the second half came when Central midfielder Marvin Oliver froze the CIC keeper with a superb volley in the 47th minute.
In all, it was probably a good lesson learned for the schoolboys. Some, especially the defenders, may now feel they have what it takes, while others now know they have more work to do if they intend to pursue Pro League careers.
FA Trophy Round-of-16 roundup
Point dumps Cali out of FA Trophy; Central lessons St. Mary’s; Connection edge Police; Stars crush Titans.
ttproleague.com.
Caledonia AIA’s miseries this season worsened on Wednesday when the two-time defending FA Trophy champions and three-time winners suffered a 3-0 defeat against Point Fortin Civic in their Round-of-16 fixture at the Mahaica Oval in Point Fortin.
Caledonia, which picked up a free move into the Round-of-16 following the pullout of Club Sando in the Round-of-32, also failed to defend the First Citizens Cup this season, and possibly lost Wednesday’s match well before the first touch of the ball.
Earlier this week the Jamaal Shabazz coached-Caledonia, relinquished its home advantage because of the unavailability of venues in north Trinidad—which were already booked up—hence agreeing to travel south against Point Fortin.
Meanwhile Point Fortin, coached by Reynold Carrington, surely used the home advantage to overcome a string of poor performances.
Ancil Wells fired Point Fortin ahead five minutes before the break (40th minute) and Andre Toussaint, who switched from Caledonia to his hometown club at the start of the season, doubled Civic’s lead in the 60th minute.
Andrei Pacheco, who made a similar move from DIRECTV W Connection to Civic before the start of the season, got his team’s final item in the 76th minute to complete the 3-0 score and dump Caledonia out of the tournament.
Connection, the former club of both Toussaint and Pacheco, were also in action on Wednesday and also advanced into the quarter-final round along with fellow Pro League clubs Central FC and North East Stars.
Connection, also preparing for Saturday’s Toyota Classic Final against Club Sando from 8pm at the Ato Boldon Stadium, edged Police FC 1-0 at the Fatima College Ground in Port of Spain, while Central schooled St. Mary’s College 5-0 at the college’s ground, and the Stars were 5-1 winners over Tunapuna Titans.
Trinidad and Tobago international Rundell Winchester (17th and 35th minutes) scored twice in the first half for Central, while teammates Keon Trim (44th minute), Darren Mitchell (86th minute) and Hector Sam (88th minute) notched a goal each for the Terry Fenwick coached-“Sharks”.
At the Constantine Park in Tunapuna, North East Stars' forwards Anthony Wolfe and Trevin Caesar were too much for the home side, Titans.
Wolfe registered a hat-trick, scoring twice in the first half in the 28th and 30th minutes, and from the penalty spot 74th minutes, while Caesar picked up a double, scoring on either side of the break in the 25th and 63rd minutes.
Connection meanwhile picked up its 1-0 winning item in the 53rd minute when Jomal Williams collected a hard worked Camilo Ortega Diaz pass—after dispossessing Karlon Murray inside the area—at the edge of the area, danced his challenger, and lashed home a low strike past goalkeeper Adrian Foncette.
But it was a match of wasted opportunities on either end by both sides.
Akiba Peters spilled wide of the Connection goal just three minutes into the match after he was picked out by a Trent Noel pass. And from another Noel pass in the 17th minute, Elijah Belgrave struck wide.
Teammate Joel Kevin Lewis followed up with a swerving strike from the top of the area in the 22nd minute and only missed the upper corner by a foot, following a neat string of passes by the Richard Hood coached-Police.
Noel also tried a trademark free-kick in the 34th minute, but that lacked everything, to the delight of Connection goalkeeper Aquelius Sylvester, who made a comfortable gather.
And in the last ten minutes of the match, Police failed to pull a goal back with ample opportunities.
An audacious flick by captain Todd Ryan placed a Noel pass wide of goal from close up to the disappointment of Hood.
Following the match Hood said his players did everything contrary to what was practiced. He also felt that his team was unfortunate not to get a handball call in the second half.
In the 8oth minute makeshift forward Belgrave fired in a powerful shot from inside the area but Sylvester was even to the task.
Belgrave also had a header over-bar in the 89th minute and in the final minute of regulation time, his powerful free-kick flashed just wide of the far upright.
Connection’s Jomal Williams also had a free-kick on goal in the 23rd minute and his tame strike was easily foiled by Foncette.
Foncette later pulled off a solid save in the 35th minute against Mikael Gem Gordon, who should have done much better from close up.
Gordon had another good opportunity in the 52nd minute after combining with Diaz, but his weak strike was thwarted easily by Foncette.
But in the end Connection head coach Stuart Charles Fevrier was simply satisfied to advance into the quarter-final round.
“(…) to be up against a resilient Police team, I was happy to get the job done,” Fevrier said. “This stage of the competition is about progressing to the next round.”
In other Round-of-16 matches, Petrotrin Palo Seco defeated Defence Force’s Super League outfit 2-0 in Palo Seco; Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC) FC defeated home side St. Francois Nationals 3-2 in Long Circular; and Guaya United defeated Westside Superstarz 3-2. The draw for the quarter-final round is scheduled for Friday.
FA Trophy 2013 [Full Round-of-16 results]
Police FC 0—1 W Connection
Jomal Williams 53'
Caledonia AIA 0—3 Point Fortin Civic
Ancil Wells 40', Andre Toussaint 66', Andrei Pacheco 76'
St. Mary’s College 0—5 Central FC
Rundell Winchester 17', 35', Keon Trim 44', Darren Mitchell 86', Hector Sam 88'
Petrotrin Palo Seco 2—0 Defence Force (Super League)
Willan Garcia 19’, Jamal Ayres 89’
Tunapuna Titans 1—5 North East Stars
Trevin Caesar 25', 63', Anthony Wolfe 28', 30', 74'(pen)
Westside Superstarz 2—3 Guaya United (Super League)
Travis Joseph 47', Jamali Garcia 56' pen ; Kheelon Mitchell 33', Kendes Garcia 41', Leston Paul 93'
QPCC FC 3---2 St. Francois Nationals
Jason Charles 64’(pen), 89’(pen), Troy Thompson 90’+ ; Marlon Bowen 34’, Rafer Ross 76’
Malabar FC 5—1 T&T Prisons FC
Hayden Tinto 4', 28', Calvin Shepard 34', 65', Gorian Highley 43' ; Ricardo Alleyne 60'
Teams
Police FC—18. Adrian Foncette, 21. Todd Ryan(capt.), 1. Errol Charles (Yellow Card) (2. Jasimar Ashers 79th), 25. Kemron Purcell (Yellow Card), 4. Karlon Murray, 39. Joel Kevin Lewis (11. Kareem Perry 61st), 20. Elijah Belgrave, 10. Trent Noel, 19. Christon Thomas, 17. Dexter Alleyne (Yellow Card), 8. Akiba Peters
Unused substitutes—31. Theon Browne (GK), 6. Kenaz Williams, 7. Brendon Christopher, 28. Aaron Stewart, 40. Jabari Williams
Coach—Richard Hood
W Connection—22. Aquelius Sylvester, 15. Mekeil Williams (capt), 13. Devaughn Elliot, 25. Christian Viveros, 11. Tremain Shayn Paul, 39. Alvin Jones, 6. Celio Da Silva Santos, 28. Jhon Stiven Reyes Lopez (10. Joevin Jones 79th), 29. Gem Gordon, 40. Jomal Williams (14. Hashim Arcia 86th), 12. Camilo Ortega Diaz (9. Andell Noray 61st)
Unused substitutes—18. Jelani Archibald (GK), 2. Kurt Frederick, 3. Gerard Williams, 19. Leslie Joel Russell
Coach—Stuart Charles Fevrier