‘We only have ourselvesto blame’

SHERDON PIERRE

W Connection will not be progressing to the final round of the FLOW CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship after they were clobbered 3-0 by Dominican Republic’s Club Atletico Pantoja at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva on Sunday.

Jamaica’s Arnett Gardens booked the second qualifying spot after they crushed Haiti’s Real Hope FA 4-0 to finish second in Group A.

W Connection, needing a positive result, gambled by leaving out Kevon Goddard – arguably their best midfielder in the tournament – and started a combination of four strikers. Club Atletico Pantoja sought to make use of some inside intel from former W Connection player Johnathon Faña Frías who got his first start of the tournament.

Both teams only needed a draw to qualify for the final round but came out in attack mode with both goalkeepers called into action in the first 20 minutes.

The Dominican Republic team broke the deadlock in the 27th minute when Frías slipped a ball through to Luis Espinal who calmly slotted it past Connection’s goalkeeper Archibald for the 1-0 lead. The visitors doubled their lead in the 30th when Armando Maita finished smartly after a well measured pass from Espinal.

Jean Carlos Lopez put the result beyond doubt in the 64th when he stepped up and scored from the penalty spot after Joseph fouled Espinal in the penalty area.

Staring an early exit, the Savonetta Boys played their best football of the game by pressing for the goals but it was too late as the game the former Caribbean champions were booted out.

A disappointed W Connection head coach Stuart Charles Fevrier said, “We were too inconsistent especially in the first half. We also allowed two soft goals in the first half, then we made a silly error in conceding a soft penalty. It was the final nail in the coffin for us. I knew then it was hard to come back.”

The St Lucian declared, “We only have ourselves to blame, we let down ourselves and let down the country as well. After the first two games, we should have already qualified. Had we drawn the first game (against Real Hope) we would have qualified on head-to-head.”

In the previous game, Fabien Reid scored a second- half hat-trick and registered an assist to give his team Arnett Gardens a well-deserved 4-0 victory over Haiti’s Real Hope FA. After a goalless first half, the game burst into life in the second period. Arnett Gardens opened the scoring in the 65th minute through Reid and in the 85th minute Reid scored his second penalty of the tournament to make it 2-0.

In the last minute of regulation time, the Jamaicans scored their third when Reid set-up Leon Strickland for a goal. Then, the former San Juan Jabloteh player Reid rounded off the scoring in the 92nd to complete the 4-0 drubbing.