Digicel T&T Pro League club, DirecTV W Connection will go into today’s final round of Group One matches in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championship preliminary round versus Suriname’s Inter Moengotapoe at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, from 6.30 pm, needing just a share of the points to reach the semifinals.
This after W Connection came from behind for the second straight match to record victory, 5–1 over Guadeloupe’s Club Sportif Moulien in the second match of Friday’s day two double-header.
With the win, W Connection, which spanked Dominican Republic’s Atlantic FC 4–2 in its opener on Wednesday at the same venue, improved to maximum six points, the same as Inter Moengotapoe which followed up its 3–2 win of Sportif Moulien with a narrow 1–0 victory against Atlantic FC in Friday’s opener.
However, W Connection has a superior goal-difference of plus-six to Moengotapoe’s plus-two and will book a place in the semifinals with a draw in their top-of-the-table encounter this afternoon. In today’s first match from 4 pm at the same venue, Club Sportif Moulien and Atlantico FC, both without a point and no chance of qualification, face off.
On Friday, W Connection started slowly, once again fell behind in the third minute, but responded in grand fashion with a goal each from 19-year-old Grenadian Jamal Charles and Jomal Williams, as well as Dimitrie Apai, captain Alvin Jones and substitute Malik St Prix.
Richardson Petit put Moulien 1–0 ahead after just three minutes when he fired past goalkeeper Julani Archibald off a cross from left winger Krismiller Bolmin, who linked with midfielder Sebastien Lobry for a quick exchange to make light work of Connection defender Daneil Cyrus.
However, within four minutes Charles, who got his first ever goals for W Connection, two in the win over Atlantico, levelled the score with a clever header beyond goalkeeper Jordan Sennoaj at the back post off a corner by Jones corner.
W Connection then began to stamp its authority on the contest, and in the first 20th minutes, Charles wasted a chance to put his team ahead when he muffed a close range effort with Sennoaj at his mercy .
Less than a minute later, Charles again found himself in a scoring position after some neat build-up by former Vietnam-based national midfielder Hughtun Hector and Williams, but he again failed to find the back of the net as both teams went into he interval tied.
W Connection wasted little time in asserting itself at the resumption and in the 53rd minute Williams put his team ahead as he fired past Sennoaj for his third goal in the tournament in two matches. And in the 67th minute Suriname’s Apai made it 3–1 by diving full stretch to guide home a left-sided cross from Kurt Frederick.
Any hopes of the visitors getting back into the match all disappeared four minutes later when Jones added his name to the scorer’s list by converting a penalty, after the lively Williams was brought down in the area by defender Cedric Vamur in full view of Cayman Islands referee Swason Owen.
And in the first minute of extra-time St Prix, who missed an open header from another Frederick feed, netted from inside the six-yard box to extend the lead to 5–1.
Left-back Frederick, who tormented the Moulien defence for most of the second-half with his surging runs down the flank and pin-point crosses, almost capped off his team’s performance with a goal of his own.
However, he was denied by Moulien, but in the end the former champions ran out comfortable winners and need only a point today to continue its push for yet another spot in the main draw of the 2016/2017 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League group stages.
Speaking after the match, Williams noted that even though his team fell behind early, they were always confident of getting the win. “When they scored the game was still young and it didn’t stop us from playing together as one and eventually we got a hold of the game and the goals started coming.
He added: “The level of our performance was really good and the tournament is coming along pretty well for us in getting the results we wanted from our first two games.
“We will have the same concentration going into the game against Inter Moengotapoe on Sunday. We know a draw will take us through but we want a win in securing the top spot,” ended the 21-year-old W Connection midfielder.
In Friday’s opener, Moengotapoe got a lone goal from Gregory Pokie in the 31st minute to edge Dominican Republic’s Atlantico FC 1–0.
The winner of the group will advance to the semis along with the three other group winners after which the semifinal winners and third-placed team will qualify to the CONCACAF Champions League group stage.
Results & matches
CFU Results
Inter Moengotapoe 1 (Gregory Pokie 31st) vs Atlantico FC 0
W Connection 4 (Jamal Charles 7th, Jomal Williams 53rd, Dimitrie Apai 67th, Alvin Jones 70th pen) vs Club Sportif Moulien 1 (Richardson Petit 3rd)
Today’s matches
(Ato Boldon Stadium)
Club Sportif Moulien vs Atlantico FC, 4 pm
W Connection vs Inter Moengotapoe, 6.30 pm