CLUB Sando Women confirmed their place as the top team in the Claire George regular season of the TT Women’s League Football (WoLF) following a 0-0 stalemate against Defence Force Women at the St James Police Barracks on Sunday evening.
The Southerners dominated the campaign without loss and their sole tie came on the final day of the regular season against the Army. They also endured the entire competition with no goals conceded and 56 goals scored.
On the day, in a tightly contested encounter, neither team could have found the net, despite having a healthy goal-scoring record this season.
The best chance of the match came in the 36th minute when Club Sando were awarded a penalty for handball in the penalty area. In-form forward, Afiyah Cornwall, stepped up to take the responsibility of capitalising on the opportunity, but she saw her strike rattle the crossbar and cleared by the Defence Force backline.
The scoreless draw meant that Club Sando kept their ninth clean sheet in nine games throughout the campaign, making custodian Keri Myers the best goalkeeper of the regular season.
Both teams advanced to the playoff round of the Claire George conference where Club Sando will enter the semifinal stage as regular season winners.
In the prior fixture at the Barracks, Police Women earned their first win of the season – on the last day of the season – against fellow strugglers, University of the West Indies (UWI) Women. Both teams were second-from-last and last in the standings, and the fixture proved to be a match of pride for the respective outfits.
The officers, who had only earned a point until the final day, showed power and finesse over their bewildered opponents. Chinade Prudent opened the scoring for the policewomen in the eighth minute via a powerful effort from outside of the penalty area, which flew past UWI goalkeeper, Nadia James.
It only took Police 12 minutes to double their lead, courtesy Tyeisha Griffith. Chelcy Ralph netted the third in the 39th minute and gave her team a firm lead at the half-time interval.
The second half brought more misery to the university players as three consecutive Griffith goals in the 47th, 64th and 71st minutes increased the score to 6-0. Ralph got herself on the scoresheet again in the 77th minute before Griffith netter her fifth of the match to complete an 8-0 drubbing, and condemned the UWI Women to a campaign without a single point and 114 goals conceded with no goals scored.
Up next for the Claire George Conference will be the conference playoffs, which will consist of the top six teams after the final round of play in the regular season. Following the conclusion of the regular season on Sunday, the six clubs in the playoffs are: Club Sando Women, Athletic Club Port-of-Spain (AC POS) Women, Defence Force Women, Trincity Nationals, Playfit Football Academy and St Augustine/Cunupia United.
Club Sando and AC POS, as the top two teams in the regular season, will enter the playoffs in the semifinals. The preliminary playoff fixtures will be contested by Defence Force vs St Augustine/Cunupia United and Trincity Nationals vs Playfit FA at dates to be determined by the TT Football Association (TTFA) and WoLF.
The winner of Defence Force vs St Augustine/Cunupia United will face Club Sando in the first semifinal and AC POS will await the winner of Trincity Nationals vs Playfit FA to contest the second semifinal.
TT WoLF Claire George Conference – Regular Season
Team*GP*W*L*D*GD*Pts
1) Club Sando*9*8*0*1*56*25
2) AC POS*9*8*1*0*47*24
3) Defence Force*9*7*1*1*76*22
4) Trincity Nationals*9*5*4*0*28*15
5) Playfit FA*9*5*4*0*2*15
6) St Augustine/Cunupia*9*4*5*0*8*12
7) QPCC*9*4*5*0*-6*12
8.) Police*9*1*7*1*-43*4
9) Atlas Athletic*9*1*7*1*-53*4
10) UWI Women*9*0*9*0*-114*0
Playoff dates, times and venues TBA.