St. Ann’s Rangers head coach Angus Eve seeks early revenge when his side hosts Club Sando from 6 pm on Tuesday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Round One Match Day Two of the Digicel Pro League (DPL) 2015-16.
Eve, who left out attacking players Kadeem Corbin, Josh Toussaint and Samuel Delice for disciplinary reasons, believes the trio can make a difference in Tuesday’s DPL clash.
“I’m a disciplinarian,” he said following Saturday’s defeat. “We had three players who missed training the day before. I don’t play players who miss training. They have no valid excuse. But those three players could come back into the team so we could have a bit more punch up front (against Sando on Tuesday).”
Nineteen-year-old Corbin, the star of Trinidad and Tobago's 2014 Caribbean Football Union Under-20 championship winning team has never seemed to settle since rising to stardom.
While a talented but infamous Samuel Delice has failed to produce the sort of promise he showed at Defence Force. Instead indiscipline seems to have the better of the player, who failed to calm during stints at Defence Force, Central FC and San Juan Jabloteh.
Not much is known personally about Josh Toussaint other than the midfielder has grown in ability over the years and could gain the much needed self-aggression with Eve at the helm.
Eve said that all three guys, just like many others within his squad, have a lot of potential. In the case of Corbin, who recently had trials in Holland and Finland, the new Rangers coach said the player “just needs to refocus himself because it’s sort of a let-down when you go out on trials and it doesn’t work out.”
On Saturday Eve started a lesser-known forward to the Pro League, 19-year-old former St. Anthony's College star Rasheed Simon.
Simon, who starred for his school side alongside Corbin, was passionate of his role and scored an excellent solo goal in the Rangers’ 3-1 loss. But lacked the stamina needed for the full duration of a 4 pm kick-off in the Mahaica Oval heat.
Kudos to the officials for allowing a one-minute rehydration break on the 35th minute mark for the wellbeing of players. But even that wasn't enough to cool the later disappointment for Rangers despite a creditable fight. In fact Woodley punished the St. Ann's club on every defensive lapse.
“It’s a learning process for some of these kids and sometimes it’s going to be a hard curve like it was today (against Sando),” said Eve, who led Rangers to a 1-1 draw with Defence Force in Round One Match Day One of the DPL on September 25.
Eve said Saturday’s game was worse that the performance against Defence Force. The Rangers coach said the lengthy break also broke the momentum of his team.
“But today (Saturday) we really just gave away three goals,” stated Eve. “It was down to individual mistakes. We passed the ball well and were in the game for the most part of it. But our guys are still learning. You are going to see a lot of these mistakes being made throughout the season. We already knew that coming in but we are hoping we can limit those mistakes, individual errors, and be a little more competitive as we were against Defence Force.”
Also on Tuesday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Morvant Caledonia United (MCU) and W Connection will meet from 8 pm in a preview of Friday’s semi-final clash.
MCU defeated Defence Force 2-1 on Sunday in the FCC quarter-finals while Connection got past Point Fortin Civic 3-1 on Saturday.
“We are finished with Army, now we are going to prepare for W Connection in the (FCC) semi-finals with Tuesday’s league match against them,” said MCU coach Jerry Moe. He also said that while Connection and MCU enjoy a good relationship, its business on the field of play.
Tuesday’s DPL action kicks off from 4 pm at the Larry Gomes Stadium with North East Stars against Police FC, who were defeated 4-3 on penalty kicks by Central FC following a 2-2 draw in Sunday’s FCC quarter-finals.
Then from 6 pm at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Central, also the defending league champions, will tackle Defence Force, and simultaneously at the Mahaica Oval, home side Civic will welcome San Juan Jabloteh.
Digicel Pro League 2015-16 Fixture
Tuesday 20 October 2015
St. Ann's Rangers vs Club Sando—6 pm, Hasely Crawford Stadium
Morvant Caledonia United vs W Connection—8 pm, Hasely Crawford Stadium
Point Fortin Civic vs San Juan Jabloteh—6 pm, Mahaica Oval
Central FC vs Defence Force—6 pm, Ato Boldon Stadium
North East Stars vs Police FC—4 pm, Larry Gomes Stadium