Four-year-old league top flight football club, Central FC will be chasing a piece of history today when it go after an unprecedented third straight lien of the Digicel T&T Pro League crown when final round of matches kick off this afternoon at 3.30pm.
The Dale Saunders-coached "Couva Sharks" as the club is known currently heads the ten-team table with 44 points from 17 matches, one point ahead of five-time league winners W Connection going into their respective matches.
The down-to-the wire finish for the league crown is the first since the 2011-2012 season when W Connection garnered 40 points from 21 matches to finish ahead of T&TEC (39) and Morvant/Caledonia United (38).
Following that, Defence Force (46 points) won by a four-points margin over Morvant/Caledonia in 2012/2013; W Connection (50 its) ended five ahead of debutants Central FC and Defence Force in 2013/2014 after which Central FC won both in 2014/2015 and 2015/2016.
In 2014/2015 season, Central FC (55 points) finished six points ahead of W Connection for its first Pro league crown while during the last campaign, the "Couva Sharks" total of 58 points, was four better than fellow Caribbean Football Union Club Championship qualifiers, San Juan Jabloteh.
Today, Central FC, also the two-time reigning CFU Club champions led by captain, Darren Mitchell, the task is simple, pick up all three points at home to third placed San Juan Jabloteh (29 points) at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, and the title will where it has been tucked away for the past two years.
When both teams met in the first round, Central FC won 2-1, however, should Saunders men failed in their bid to get the same outcome today, W Connection will have a chance to coup a remarkable come-from-behind title with victory over fourth placed Ma Pau Stars (28 points) at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella, in a simultaneous kick-off.
One thing is for certain going into the matches though, is that both are expected to be closely fought encounters with their opponents, still battling for third spot. The 'Couva Sharks' enter their match on a four-match winning run and are coming off last week's 6-0 win over St Ann's Rangers and like Jabloteh will also compete in next month's Caribbean Football Union Club Championships, a qualifier to the prestigious Concacaf Champions League.
Saunders men look to be in top form and will start as favorites against Jabloteh which is coming off last week's 1-0 loss against W Connection, but coach Keith Jeffreys men will no doubt be up for the task to play spoilers.
Speaking earlier in the week, Saunders said his team was prepared for the contest as well as the Pro Bowl which kicked off on Wednesday.
He said: "At Central FC winning is a part of us and this is because of the work of our coaching staff which has been fantastic. We are on the verge of winning a three-peat and we will try to go all the way, " he ended.
Down at Marebella, W Connection takes a seven-game winning streak since losing 2-1 to Central on December 12 into their meeting with Ma Pau Stars, which is undefeated in four matches, including a win over Central FC, but its coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier said his players, who whipped Stars 4-2 in round one will fight to the final whistle.
Charles-Fevrier, who was at the help of all w Connection league title wins (2000, 2001, 2005, 2011-12 & 2013-14), said: "We want to win the league this season like everyone else, but we only have control over our games. So we must remain focused."
Two other clubs have came close to capturing the hat-trick of Pro League crowns, in W Connection and Jabloteh.
Latest T&T Pro League standings:
Teams P W D L F A Pts
1. Central 17 14 2 1 40 14 44
2. W Connection 17 14 1 2 48 13 43
3. Jabloteh 17 9 2 6 32 22 29
4. Ma Pau Stars 17 8 4 5 33 27 28
5. Club Sando 18 7 4 7 33 34 25
6. Police FC 18 5 5 8 36 35 20
7. Defence Force 17 6 2 9 24 30 20