Hashim Arcia scored a hat-trick and Shahdon Winchester added a pair as reigning Digicel T&T Pro League champions DirecTV W Connection crushed Guyana Defence Force 7-1 in their Group Two opener of the 2015 Caribbean Football Union Club Championship on Wednesday night.Going into the match at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, both teams were informed that Jamaican club, Waterhouse FC, which reached the Concacaf Champions League group stage last season, had opted out of the four-team series.
This after they failed to arrive for the first match of the double-header against Antigua and Barbuda's SAP FC due to financial problems between the players and club.It meant a victory for either W Connection, three-time CFU Club champions and Guyana Defence Force in their meeting would put their club in the driver's seat to reach the tournament semifinal, as only the group winner advances.
And W Connection, CFU winners in 2001, 2001 and 2009 and four-time finalists as well did not waste much time in getting down to the business of the day with teenager Akeem Garcia firing in the opener past Guyana Defence Force goalkeeper Derick Carter from an Arcia assist for a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute.Two minutes later, former Finland-based Winchester, who had a trial stint at US Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire last month capitalised on a poor pass by the visitors captain Selwyn Isaacs to slot past Carter for a 2-0 lead.
The match was all over as a contest in the 25th when Winchester got his second by rounding Carter for an easy finish and 3-0 while Arcia opened his account with a volley off a Jerrel Britto pass in the 33nd.It was now just a matter of how many more goals W Connection would go on to get in the match with Britto finally adding his name to the scoresheet after some earlier near misses, and a 5-0 cushion at the interval.
Any thoughts of W Connection taking it lightly in the second-half was not on the cards early on as within a minute of the restart, Arcia then got his second and the team's sixth off a feed by Winchester.
However, the reigning T&T Pro League champions then took their foot off the pedal before Arcia completed his hat-trick with eight minutes left in the contest.W Connection then had a golden chance for a fourth item on the afternoon in the 86th, but on this occasion, Arcia guided a Jomal Williams cross wide of the target.
At the other end of the field, a clean sheet looked on the cards for W Connection's custodian Julani Archibald as the minutes ticked away, but four minutes into time added on, that hope was dashed by Delroy Fraser's consolation item, which went in off the underside of the crossbar before sinking into the back of goalkeeper Julani Archibald's net.
Speaking after the match Charles-Fevrier said it was a good victory for his team.He added, "You could have seen we are definitely a team much better than they are. I even thought we could have gone for a lot more goals in the second half."But after five goals in the first half our players weren't that motivated in the second half. To them they had already won the game in the first half. It's 7-1 and it's a good result for us and we look forward to the next game.
"Winning a game 7-1, even if everything wasn't perfect tonight, it's difficult to get angry at my players. But now it's a matter of putting this game behind us and starting back at 0-0 against SAP FC in our next game," he said.Today, from 6pm, at the same Couva venue, Guyana Defence Force will meet SAP FC in the lone match while the qualifiers conclude on Sunday, with W Connection entertaining SAP FC, also from 6pm.
Wednesday's CFU Club results
Group One:
Venue: Guyana National Stadium, Providence:
Alpha United (GUY) 3 vs Inter Moengotapoe (SUR) 0
Group Two:
Venue:
Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, Trinidad: W Connection 7 (Akeem Garcia 18', Shahdon Winchester 20', Shahdon Winchester 25, Hashim Arcia 32nd, 46th, 82nd, Jerrel Britto 40th)
vs Guyana Defence Force 1 (Delroy Fraser 90'+4)
Group Three:
Venue: Complexe Sportif des Cayes (Les Cayes), Haiti:
Montego Bay United (JAM) 1 vs Club Sportif Moulien (GLP) 0
America FC (HAI) 4 vs SV Excelsior (SUR) 2
Group Four:
Venue: Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti:
Helenites Sporting Club (VIR) 2 vs Unite Sainte Rose (GLP) 2
Don Bosco FC (HAI) 10 vs Lyford Cay FC (BAH) 0