T&T internationals Tyrone Charles and Nathan Lewis spear-headed a 20-man San Juan Jabloteh squad which left here yesterday for St Vincent and The Grenadines to contest its tricky first round group series in the 2017 staging of the Caribbean Football Union Club Championship, the 19th edition.
The T&T Pro League club will contest the fourth of five first round group qualifiers which kicked off last month from which the top four teams will qualify to the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League, an increase of one from previous years.
Jabloteh, CFU tournament winners in 2003 and runner-up in 2006 followed by a third placed finish in 2009 makes a return to the competition after a a five year absence (2010-2011) when it reached the Concacaf Champions League preliminary round stage.
The San Juan-based four-time T&T champion club, coached by Keith Jeffrey qualified for the CFU Club Championship series behind an impressive runner-up finish to Central FC in the Digicel T&T Pro League in the 2015/2016 season.
And with matches in Group E from Wednesday until Sunday against host club System 3 Sport Academy (St Vincent & Grenadines), Club Sportif Moulien (Guadeloupe) and Flames United SC (Dutch St Maarten) at Victoria Park, Kingstown, St Vincent and The Grenadines, coach Jeffrey will be looking to the national team to lead his team to the final round of six-team to be hosted by fellow T&T Pro League club, Central FC, the two-time defending CFU champions.
Charles and Lewis have been training with a squad of locally-based players selected by newly appointed national coach Dennis “Tallest” Lawrence in preparation for Friday’s international friendly against Barbados at Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva ahead of the Concacaf Final Round World Cup qualifiers at home to Panama and Mexico on March 24 and 28 respectively, however, they have been excused from Friday’s match.
National defender, Carlyle Mitchell, now attached to the club as well, misses the CFU series due to an injury picked up in national training while fellow defender Aquil Selby is also injured and striker Brent Sam, the brother of former T&T striker Hector Sam is in Portugal on trials.
In the duo absence, Jeffrey will look to Jamaican Adrian Reid and former national youth defender Jevon Morris to lead the defence while he will have lots of options in attack with experienced Elijah Manners, Keyon Edwards, Keithy Simpson, Kennedy Hinkson, Lewis, Charles and Kadeem Corbin, Jamal Gay, Guyana’s Vurlon Mills and national Under-20 winger Micah Lansiquot at his disposal.
This is the eighth time Jabloteh will compete in the CFU Club Championship and coach Jeffrey is looking forward to his club’s return to the tournament.
The winner of the round-robin series will joined Central FC which has been handed an automatic path to the finals, Racing des Gonaives (Haiti), Cibao (Dominican Republic), and Antigua & Barbuda’s Grenades and the with the winner of the yet to be completed Group D series in the May 14-21 six-team finals in T&T. The CFU Club champions will enter the second phase of the CCL, while the teams finishing second through fourth will enter the first phase.
The Dale Saunders-coached “Sharks” as Central FC are known captured a historic Digicel T&T Pro League crown last month and are also eager to make it a three-peat in the Caribbean’s premier club competition
Racing des Gonaives topped its four-team Group A round-robin series on goal-difference from Suriname’s Inter Moengotapoe after both teams ended with seven points each.