Caledonia seeks to maintain title form with right preparation
Caledonia AIA of Morvant/Laventille, in chase of its third consecutive knockout and fourth overall title this season upon reaching the Final of the Digicel Pro Bowl, says the key to success is based on preparation.
“Success is based on the preparation for the opportunity and we have prepared so well, every time we got the opportunity. And preparation is what we focused on for the game on [Thursday],” explained assistant coach Jerry Moe during Wednesday morning’s session at the Hasely Crawford Stadium training ground.
Caledonia, winners of the First Citizens Cup, FA Trophy and Lucozade Sport Goal Shield (with the two later against Defence Force in the Finals), meets the Soldiers a third time in a knockout Final from 8pm at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Thursday in the Pro Bowl Final.
“This is a new Final,” added Moe.
“Defence Force is a formidable opponent and I think they deserve to be in the Final seeing where they came from by starting the season late and doing well in the later part of the season.”
This season Caledonia also enjoyed victories over the Soldiers League clashes with 3-2 wins in Round Two and Three, with the Ross Russell coached Defnece Force taking a 2-1 result in Round One.
The next eight days will be very interesting for the Jamaal Shabaaz and Moe coached Caledonia also preparing for the Caribbean Football Union(CFU) Club Championship Second Round Group Four matches in the Cayman Islands from May 20-24 in pursuit of Final Four spots.
“No player wants to be left back in Trinidad because we play away from home when we leave on Friday and that is motivation by itself. Everyone wants to be on the squad. Everyone wants to be on the plane to the Cayman Islands and that’s motivation,” said Moe.
“We don’t need to sacrifice on tournament for another [at this stage] because our CFU matches don’t start till Monday. We leave on Friday and will have two days to prepare when we get to the Cayman Islands.”
The Digicel Pro Bowl date has been brought forward from the originally set date of Friday 18 due to Caledonia’s CFU Club Championship commitments in the Cayman Islands.
The Digicel Pro League third position finisher departs Trinidad on Friday and takes on Haitian club Baltimore on Sunday, two-time defending CFU Club Champions Puerto Rico Islanders on Tuesday and home-side George Town on Thursday with all matches to be played at the T.E Mc Field Sports Centre, George Town.
The top two finishers of Group Four will advance to the Final Four of the CFU Club Championship which already has Digicel Pro League Champions W Connection and Antigua Barracudas to contest spots for the CONCACAF Champions’ League.
Caledonia’s upcoming schedule
Digicel Pro Bowl Final
Thursday 17 May 2012
Hasely Crawford Stadium
Caledonia AIA vs Defence Force—8pm
Caribbean Football Union Club Championship
Second Round
Group Four:
T.E Mc Field Sports Centre, George Town, Cayman Islands
Sunday 20 May
Caledonia vs Baltimore (Haiti)
George Town (Cayman Islands) vs Puerto Rico Islanders
Tuesday 22 May
Puerto Rico Islanders vs Caledonia AIA
George Town vs Baltimore
Thursday 24 May
Baltimore vs Puerto Rico Islanders
Caledonia AIA vs George Town