Former Soca Warriors World Cup striker and T&T’s leading goalscorer, Stern John scored a pair of goals as newcomers, D 14 FC defeated San Juan San Juan 4-2 in their opening match of the Santa Cruz Football Cup at the Brian Lara Recreation Ground, Sam Boucaud, Lower Santa Cruz on Tuesday.
Former national players Gary Glasgow and Kevin Jeffrey added one each for D 14 while M Alexis and M Joseph got San Juan San Juan’s replies. This year, 23 teams are trying to dethrone River Plate, including 2011 champions Police, to win the $20,000 first prize. The runners-up will win $10,000, third place will walk away with $5,000 and fourth place will win $3,000 in the league competition.
The 24 clubs have been broken up into six groups of four at the end of which the top two will advance to the main knockout. The groups have been named after former players from the community in Gerard Craigwell, Kenneth Lester, Charlie De Bourg, Alfred Gordon, Moses Vidale and Mortima Joseph.
A knockout competition called the Garfield De Silva Cup will take place simultaneously, with the winner taking home $10,000 and second place $3,000. No prize money will be awarded for the third and fourth place winners in the knockout competition. Registration is still open at a cost of $2,500 per team.
The tournament is being sponsored by Ricky Ragoonanan Group of Companies, Beckles Environmental, UNIPET and Monteco Creations.
Santa Cruz results
River Plate 6 (Anthony Guppy 3, Tyrone Charles, Kerron Cummings, Curtis Gonzales) vs Macoya 0.
Valencia 4 vs Santa Cruz Touring Team 1
Caledonia Reserves 4 (N Stephens, S Williams, D Peroca, K Jack own goal) vs Trincity Nationals 1 (K John)
Pacemakers 4 (J Vrance 2, V Ramirez, K Ottley) vs Frontline 3 (J Belgrave, S Morris, K Williams)
Pipiol Utd 4 (S Delice, T Quierico, K Fox, J O’Brien) vs Back Street 1 (W Isaac)
D 14 FC 4 (Ster John 2, Gary Galsgow, Kevin Jeffrey) vs San Juan San Juan 1 (M Alexis, M Joseph)
Upcoming matches
Today: Caledonia Reserves vs Pipiol Utd, 2.15 pm; Real Pipiol vs Victors, 4.15 pm
Tomorrow: Cantaro Utd vs San Juan Youths, 4.15 pm
Tuesday: VFI vs Young Stars, 4.15 pm
Wednesday: San Juan San Juan vs Santa Cruz Touring Team, 4.15 pm
Thursday: Macoya vs North Coast, 4.15 pm
Friday: Hot Shots vs River Plate, 4.15 pm
Saturday: Police vs San Juan Youths, 2.15 pm; Cantaro Utd vs La Pastor, 4.15 pm