In spite of his club Caledonia AIA going under 2-0 to eventual First Citizens Cup winners W Connection in the final of the competition, midfielder Marvin Oliver was unanimously voted as the MVP of the month long knockout tournament.
Oliver, a regular to individual awards this season in the TT Pro League has proven that at age 34 he’s still capable of achieving many goals.
“It always feels good to win an individual award but overall in disappointed in the final,” said Oliver over his team’s failure to win the 2007 First Citizens Cup.
Oliver’s spirited performance during the competition against Tobago United in the quarterfinals, United Petrotrin in the semifinals and against W Connection in the final has earned him the MVP award.
Oliver scored against Tobago United and United Petrotrin earning himself the ‘Most Goals’ award, joint with teammate Walter Moore and W Connection’s Jonathon Frias.
Oliver explained that his team’s main focus this season is on the League title, but admits that W Connection played a much better game.
He said, “Despite our main focus being on the League this season, we were stretched a little bit because of injuries but saying that, hats off to W Connection. They played well; they executed their game plan much better than us. W Connection was W Connection and there is no doubt about their performance in the final.
Caledonia AIA are second in the League race with 48 points, one point behind leaders San Juan Jabloteh.
Oliver, Caledonia AIA’s marquee player has picked up numerous ‘Player of the Match’ votes as well as the MVP of Round One in the TT Pro League in only his first season with the ‘Stallions’.
Commenting on his personal performance against the ‘Savonnetta Boys’ as a converted striker in the finals, Oliver said, “W Connection’s defence was on top of their game. When you are a marquee player and two three players are always marking you, it’s going to be tough and I am only human.”
Despite his disappointment over his team’s failure to win the title, Oliver believes, football in Trinidad and Tobago benefited.
“Although W Connection won the finals, I think that football in Trinidad and Tobago really won. With the crowd, the talent of overseas and local players in the competition, really showed how improved football in T&T is,” said the Caledonia AIA midfielder.
Prior to the final, Caledonia had pledged to win the title for their Morvant/Lavantille community, but this promise was washed away by two goals from W Connection’s Dominican Republic striker Jonathon Frias in the second period.
Oliver said, “Our fans are going to be down a bit but when we look at it realistically, W Connection are much more financially secured than us. It’s a situation like Real Madrid playing one of the lower financed clubs. They(W Connection) have the money to get the best players, while we have players that are just rising out of communities and that explained how ready they were for this final,” ended the First Citizens Cup MVP.
Frias’ two goals in the finals pumped him in line with Caledonia AIA’s Marvin Oliver and Walter Moore as joint ‘Most Goals’ winners. Frias only at age 18 is also a member of the Dominican Republic senior squad. The lightening paced forward was introduced as a second half substitute by Coach Stuart Charles Fevrier, who later informed that it was a tactical maneuver.
W Connection coming into the final as defending champions completed a beaver-trick of the First Citizens Cup and an overall haul of five in its eight year history.
First Citizens Cup 2007 Honour Roll
Champions—W Connection
Runners Up—Caledonia AIA
Third Place—San Juan Jabloteh
Fourth Place—United Petrotrin
MVP—Marvin Oliver(Caledonia AIA)
Most Goals—Jonathon Frias(W Connection) 2 goals
-Marvin Oliver(Caledonia AIA) 2 goals
-Walter Moore(Caledonia AIA) 2 goals