Defence Force will go into tonight's penultimate round of Digicel Pro League matches against San Juan Jabloteh needing only a point to end an 11-year National League title drought. The round 19 encounter between the Teteron Boys, 20-time T&T champions and the San Juan Kings, the feature of a Super-Friday double-header, takes place at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo from 8 pm.
Two hours earlier, W Connection and Caledonia, two clubs which saw their title aspirations end with defeats in the previous round, face off in a battle for second spot. With two matches left, Defence Force heads the table with 37 points, six ahead of last year's winners bmobile Joe Public, while Caledonia has 30 and W Connection 28. The trio of Jabloteh, DirecTV North East Stars and Ma Pau each have 28 points and are still in the battle for second spot.
Standings
Teams
P
W
D
L
F
A
Pts
D/Force
16
12
1
3
35
13
37
Joe Public
16
9
4
3
26
20
31
Caledonia
16
9
3
4
25
15
30
W Connection
16
8
4
4
32
11
28
Jabloteh
16
7
5
4
23
11
26
NE Stars
16
7
5
4
27
20
26
Ma Pau
16
7
5
4
21
13
26
Rangers
16
2
4
10
14
32
10
Police
16
1
3
12
16
51
6
South End
16
1
0
15
9
42
3
In addition to the Pro League winner, the runner-up will also qualify for the Caribbean Football Championship Club Championship, a qualifier to the Concacaf Champions League. However, tonight the Teteron Boys will look to make certain of the crown even though they have been declared champions by many, due to their superior goal difference of 22 to Joe Public's six. Despite the cushion, Defence Force coach Ross Russell says he will only rest when the title is certain.
"I'm not celebrating yet. We still have some work to do because I'm looking at the CFU and Concacaf tournaments next," noted Russell, a former Defence Force and national goalkeeper. Against Jabloteh though, which his team has beaten once in two meetings, Russell is expected to find the going tough, according to their coach Terry Fenwick. Fenwick said he too, wants his team to end the season with as many points as possible and won't be taking the game lightly. "We are out of the running but we want to get as many points as we can so we don't intend to make it easy for them."