North East Stars is good enough to lift the 2013 Lucozade Sport Goal Shield title with or without star forward Cornell Glen, who remains with a question mark for today’s final, according to head coach Angus Eve.
Stars edged Central FC 1-0 in the quarterfinal round and ousted Defence Force 5-4 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the semifinal round to now attempt its second title this season under Eve.
The 2013 Toyota Classic winner will tackle DirecTV W Connection from 8 pm at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya, in the final of the Goal Shield, following an Oasis Youth Pro League Under-17 clash between North East Stars and Defence Force, which kicks off at 6 pm.
North East Stars has enjoyed the better of Connection all season, defeating the “Savonnetta Boys” 2-1 in the first round of the FA Trophy, in addition to a 2-0 and a 1-0 win in round two and three, respectively, in the Digicel T&T Pro League. The best result for W Connection against North East Stars this season was a goalless stalemate in the first round.
W Connection, however, is on a high following qualification into the 2013-2014 Concacaf Champions League earlier this week, and midfielder Joevin Jones enjoying good form as the star player in coach Stuart Charles Fevrier’s side.
Meanwhile, North East Stars remains hopeful that its top forward Cornell Glen will be fit enough to play on Friday.
The injury-prone Glen suffered a calf strain in the quarterfinal contest against Central FC on April 12 and Eve cast blame on the artificial Marvin Lee Stadium surface.
On Wednesday the Stars coach said, “(Glen) is getting all the necessary treatment. We left him out of the semifinal against Defence Force because we thought the rest of guys were good enough to get us to get us to the final. But we are hoping that (Glen) should be there in the Final on Friday.”
Even with Glen still doubtful, Eve is confident in his team’s ability to lift the Goal Shield.
“Anybody going into a game, goes in to win,” he said. “We believe that we are quite capable of winning and are confident in ourselves. We do have respect for (Connection) as we do for every opponent.
“We know their strengths as well as—they may believe—they know ours. We know that Joevin Jones has been doing the work in midfield for them and that goalkeeper (Alejandro) Figueroa keeps the ball very long. We also know that the Surinamese boy Stefano Rijssel is a good player and that Clyde Leon keeps very good possession of the ball.
“But we know where we’re at,” he said on Thursday. “For us Cornell Glen has been the only doubt going into the Final. He trained with us today and we would see how it goes tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, A lucky local football A lucky local football fan will get to see a 2013-2014 English Premier League match.
The trip is being offered as a door prize at tonight’s Lucozade Goal Shield final.
All holders of legitimate tickets to the final will be eligible for the door prize, which is being offered by sponsors Lucozade Sport (GlaxoSmithKline).
The winning ticket holder and a companion will have the opportunity to visit England to see a Premier League match of their choice. Last season’s winner chose a Chelsea/Manchester United showdown.