Mount Pleasant Football Academy will look to lay claim to their first-ever Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Shield title today when they take on Delfines del Este of the Dominican Republic at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Trinidad and Tobago.
Mount Pleasant booked their spot in the final after defeating SV Robinhood of Suriname 3-1 in the semifinal on Friday.
Goals from Trayvone Reid, Jahshaun Anglin, and Demario Phillips led the way for Mount Pleasant, sending them to the Club Shield at the first time of the asking.
By reaching the final, Mount Pleasant also qualified for the Concacaf Caribbean Cup, where they stand as defending champions.
Speaking ahead of the competition, Mt Pleasant head coach Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore said their main aim was to qualify for the Caribbean Cup, where they can defend their title.
Having achieved that objective, Whitmore said their eyes are firmly set on lifting the title.
“It was an excellent performance, and I think we executed well. We knew what the Robinhood team would come with and I think we took that from them. The only concern is conceding and how we conceded,” Whitmore said after his team’s semifinal triumph.
“We would have achieved one objective that we set out for coming here by qualifying for the Caribbean Cup so the final is just the icing on the cake. Not to say we didn’t come here to win it; we’re here to win it.”
Mt Pleasant have improved with each round of the competition after kicking off their campaign with a cagey 1-0 win over Weymouth Wales of Barbados.
Whitmore had been critical of his team’s performance despite the win, and they stepped up another level as they eased past Robinhood in the semifinal.
Now they will face the Dominican Republic outfit Delfines del Este, who have only won one of their three games in regulation time.
Delfines del Este opened their campaign with a 2-0 win over Elite SC of the Cayman Islands in the round of 16, before needing penalties to get past Inter Willemstad of Curaçao after a 1-1 draw in the quarterfinals.
They again needed penalties in the semifinals as they clipped Metropolitan of Puerto Rico 10-9 after a goalless draw in regulation time.
CARIBBEAN CUP GROUP
Today’s final will not only determine the champion of the Club Shield, but will also determine the final group spots in the Caribbean Cup.
Should Mount Pleasant win the Club Shield title, they will be drawn in Group B of the Caribbean Cup, alongside the Jamaican pair of Cavalier and Portmore United, as well as Cibao FC and Salcedo FC, both from the Dominican Republic.
If Mt Pleasant finishes as runners-up in the Club Shield, they will instead be drawn in Group A of the Caribbean Cup, where they will join Defence Force and Club Sando of Trinidad and Tobago, Violette of Haiti and Surinamese club SV Broki.
The Club Shield final is set to kick off at 3 p.m. Jamaica time.
gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com
