Defence Force face Martinique champs in Caribbean Cup: Army in the lion’s den

Trinidad and Tobago Premier Football League (TTPFL) champions Defence Force will look to tame their hosts, Golden Lion, when the two teams meet on Wednesday in their Concacaf Caribbean Cup fixture at the Stade Pierre-Aliker in Fort-de-France, Martinique.

Both teams will be hunting their first win in the tournament as well, as Defence Force played to a 1-1 draw in their opening match vs Jamaica's Cavalier FC last Thursday, while Golden Lion were on a bye in the five-team group.

Despite surrendering an early lead and dropping two points at home against a youthful Cavalier team, the mood in the Army camp is still an upbeat one, with assistant coach Hutson "Baba" Charles
saying the squad remains fully focused on the mission at hand.

"From the start of the tournament, we spoke about winning all our home games," Charles told Newsday. "We dropped the intensity in the second half against Cavalier and I felt we weren't bold enough to push for the win. We are looking for a win in Martinique."

Although the Golden Lion team had a bye in the previous round, Charles and Defence Force would have had a good look at the Martinique team in the preceding Caribbean Club Shield tournament, as they ousted TTPFL outfit Tiger Tanks Club Sando at the semifinal stage to book their spot in this competition. With Charles anticipating a "hostile environment" in Martinique, he expects Defence Force will be in for a tough match.

"We are putting it to these guys from now, that it is very important to get three points in this game," Charles said, with the Army now now striving to get ten points in the group.

"With the home support (Golden Lion) will have, they will be confident of getting victory. "We need to have the right mindset."

A 25-member Defence Force squad arrived in Martinique on Sunday and were able to get in a productive training session on Monday. Apart from attacker Dwight Quintero, who's carrying a knock, Charles says all systems are go and the players are ready to make amends for their blip last week.

Defence Force gave debuts to the pair of Isaiah Garcia and Nathaniel Garcia in their previous match.

"Nerves could've played a big part in our first game. It was our first game in a little while at (the Concacaf) level and the boys were lacking a bit of chemistry with the new additions," Charles said. "The guys were a bit shy and I think (our right back) Isaiah Garcia went into a bit of a shell after the mistake he made for the (Cavalier) goal."

"We spoke to Isaiah and told him that mistakes will be made, but big players also rise to the occasion and bounce back from those mistakes."

From 6.06 pm on Wednesday, Defence Force and the Garcias will aim to silence the Golden Lion's roar.

Meantime, as TT looks to celebrate its 61st year of independence on August 31, TTPFL runners-up AC Port of Spain will show off their national pride when they play Cavalier in their second group game at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. AC PoS lost their first game to the Dominican Republic's Moca FC by a 1-0 margin on Friday, despite creating quite a number of chances.

Sitting at the foot of the Group A table with home games against Golden Lion (September 20) and Defence Force (September 28) still to come, AC PoS can ill afford to drop points on their trip to Jamaica on Thursday.

After four group matches, the top two teams will advance to the semifinals, while the Caribbean Cup winner qualifies for the Concacaf Champions Cup round of 16. The Caribbean Cup runners-up and third-place team will qualify for round one of the competition.