NORTH EAST STARS yesterday confirmed what most have known all along-they are the 2004 T&T Pro League champions.
Needing just a point to be sure going into their match with Starworld Strikers at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella, Stars came away 4-3 victors to clinch the title by a clear six points.
At the same time, Vibe CT105 W. Connection, who still had a slight mathematical chance of stopping Stars, went into their game with defending champions CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh at the Hasely Crawford Stadium hoping the leaders stumbled down South.
Instead, W. Connection fell 2-1 to Jabloteh and lost both the chance of wresting the crown and second place as well.
Michael Celestine's winner gave Jabloteh not just three points to pull level with Connection on 51 points, but a one-goal edge on goal-difference which secured the runners-up spot for the ex-champs.
Had every T&T Pro League game been as entertaining as the one at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, then the stands would be packed every time.
W.Connection got the perfect start when pacey Kendall Davis shot them into an eighth minute lead. And the game might well have turned out differently had Brazilian Jose Luis Seabra's 23rd minute chip gone into the goal, rather than crashing off the underside of the Jabloteh crossbar. Instead, Jabloteh settled to make a competitive game of it and two minutes into the second half were level at 1-1 when an Ian Gray cross bounced off a couple of bodies and landed perfectly for Trent Noel, who finished clinically.
Five minutes later, Jabloteh fully repaired the early damage, when Celestine met a right-flank cross with a sweet left-foot volley which swept the ball quickly past Colombian keeper Alejandro Figueroa.
Connection piled on the pressure with no luck, even when jumpy referee John Danouse ejected Jabloteh's Aurtis Whittley for dissent.
YESTERDAY'S T&T PRO LEAGUE "TOP 6" RESULTS:
CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh 2 (Trent Noel-47th; Michael Celestine-54th) Vibe CT105 W. Connection 1 (Kendall Davis-8th)
North East Stars 4 Starworld Strikers 3
Defence Force 2 Arima-Morvant Fire 1