DirecTV W Connection and Neal & Massy Caledonia AIA settled for one point each last night as the Digicel Pro League’s two most illustrious teams, at the moment, played to a 1-1 draw at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella.
There was probably satisfaction in both camps at the result.
For Connection, it avoided the prospect of a third straight defeat to the “Eastern Stallions” who beat them in the 2012 Caribbean Cup final and en route to the 2012 First Citizens Cup.
While Caledonia might be pleased for its first point of the season after an opening defeat to North East Stars, last month, and after trailing early last night.
There were moments of clever interplay from either team and the two goals, and particularly Andrei Pacheco’s thunderbolt, must have thilled patrons.
And yet, there still seemed to be an absence of bite or intensity.
Former San Juan Jabloteh coach and ex-England international Terry Fenwick once remarked that champions do not wait for an opponent to make its move; they hit first.
Fenwick, of course, was never one to pull his punches. His Jabloteh was a fierce, tireless opponent.
Defence Force, at its best, can similarly test a rival’s will to win with a game built on energy and ruthlessness.
There is much to admire about the attempts at sophisticated ball movement by Caledonia and Connection. But when they cancel each other out, the field closer resembles a giant chessboard than a battle zone and one wonders if the mutual respect between the two teams is too entrenched.
At times last night, it looked as though the Caribbean’s top two teams had taken each other out on a date.
There was one meaty tackle and it was so out of character that the tackler and the recipient, Connection’s Silvio Spann and Caledonia’s Walter Moore respectively, both limped off the field within minutes.
Otherwise, Caledonia and Connection held their shape in a show of tactical discipline and patience, on and off the ball, which made for decent drama but offered little to action junkies.
The game seemed to be heading down a different path, early on, when Pacheco put Connection ahead with a thumping 35-yard free kick that clipped the far post on its way in.
Caledonia goalkeeper Glenroy Samuel could not have been more comprehensively beaten if he was sitting in the stands.
Read More