It was the first CFU final ever for the Islanders, and the 2nd time ever facing W. Connection. The Islanders are now 0-0-2 [W-T-L] against the Trinbagonians (the other game was a 1-0 loss in the group stage at the 2006 CFU Club Champions Cup)

W. Connection got an early 2-0 lead with goals by Jonathan Frias on the 7th and 21st minute. The Islanders cut the lead in half with a goal by Martin Nuñez (Sean Fraser got the assist) 10 munites before halftime (35th). On the 54th minute the Islanders missed their biggest opportunity to tie the game with a failed penalty kick by Petter Villegas. The Trinidadian goalkeeper jumped to the left, and Villegas who had an open shot to the right, missed wide.

The Islanders had several opportunities to score the tying goal, but were unable to complete the plays.

The Islanders starting lineup included: Chris McClellan (GK), Nigel Henry, Alexis Rivera (Nick Addlery 84′), Sean Fraser, Martin Nuñez (Jonathan Steele 70′), John Krausse, Fabrice Noël, Kyle Veris, Andres Cabrero (Kendall Jagdeosingh 70′), Kevon Villaroel, Petter Villegas.

The championship-caliber bench tonight included: Bill Gaudette (GK – 2008 USL Goalie of the Year), Jonathan Steele (2008 USL MVP), Noah Delgado (Islanders Captain), Cristian Arrieta (2008 Defenceman of the Year), Sandy Gbandy (3 goals in 2008-09 CCL), Kendall Jagdeosingh (3 goals in 2008-09 CCL) and Nicholas Addlery (3 goals in 2008-09 CCL).

The Reserve players present in Trinidad, but not included in the 18-men roster for the game were: Josh Hansen, Scott Jones and James Marcelin.

W. Connection won their 3rd CFU Club Champions Cup in their history and will be joined in the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League by the Islanders and San Juan Jabloteh.

San Juan Jabloteh earned the 3rd spot to the 2009-10 CCL, as they defeated Tempête FC also by a 2-1 score in the 3rd place CFU match. Tempête FC says goodbye to the tournament after 3 wins, a tie and 2 losses (both in the finals).

The Islanders semifinal victory earned them a spot in the upcoming 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League (CCL). The Islanders were semifinalists in the 2008-09 CCL edition.

The game finished scoreless after 90 minutes of regular time, and went into 2 x 15 min periods of overtime (30 minutes).

Tempête’s Shedelin Francoeur received a red card on the 90th minute, so the Haitian team had to play a man short for the entire overtime period.

It didn’t take long in overtime for the Islanders to get on the scoreboard. To the delight of the small local crowd, Trinidad native Kendall Jagdeosingh broke the score open on the 95′ on a pass from Scott Jones. Jagdeosingh came from the bench on the 63rd minute for Nicholas Addlery. Twenty minutes later, Villegas (who came in for Josh Hansen in the 81st) scored the game’s clincher in the 115′ on a pass from Fabrice Noël. Noël himself was a 90th minute substitution for fellow Haitian James Marcelin.

The Islanders starting lineup included: Bill Gaudette (GK), Scott Jones, James Marcelin (Fabrice Noël 90′), Nigel Henry, Noah Delgado, Nick Addlery (Kendall Jagdeosingh 63′), John Krausse, Sandy Gbandy, Josh Hansen (Petter Villegas 81′), Jonathan Steele and Cristian Arrieta. The players in the bench that didn’t see action were: McLellan (GK), Alexis Rivera, Kyle Veris and Kevon Villaroel. Reserve players present in Trinidad, but not included in the 18-men roster for the game were: Andres Cabrera, Sean Fraser and Martin Nuñez.

The Islanders will now face W. Connection in the CFU final on Sunday. W Connection defeated 2-1 their arch-rival San Juan Jabloteh in the 2nd semi-final, played right after the Islanders game at Marvin Lee Stadium.

The win gave W. Connection a taste of revenge on the reigning Trinbagonian champions San Juan Jabloteh, who defeated the Connection in last year’s T&T Pro. League final.

The top three teams in the CFU Club Champions Cup qualify to the CCL. The semifinal wins earns both the Islanders and W. Connection a spot in the 2009-10 CCL as they can finish no worse than 2nd place. For the 2nd year in a row the San Juan Jabloteh is relegated to play for their life in the CFU’s 3rd spot match.

Tempête FC will face Jabloteh for the last Caribbean CCL spot on Sunday at 4pm at Marvin Lee Stadium. Afterwards (at 6:30pm) the Puerto Rico Islanders will face W. Connection for this year’s CFU Champions Cup.

The Puerto Rico Islanders secured its spot by virtue of an impressive showing in the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League, while Tempête FC booked its spot in the Semi Final round of the CFU Club Champions’ Cup when they trounced the Green Hoppers from Antigua with an 8-0 aggregate.

2007 Club Champions Cup Semi-finalist San Juan Jabloteh secured their position into the 2009 Semi final round after a 5-2 aggregate defeat over Inter Moengotapoe (Suriname) while W. Connection booked its spot when they defeated Cavaly Sportif of Haiti.

This tournament, not only declare the Club Champion of the Caribbean region, but also qualifies three teams to the 2009-2010 CONCACAF Champions League.

The Semi Final matches will be held at the Marvin Lee Stadium on May 15th beginning at 5:00 pm with Tempete versus the Islanders. San Juan Jabloteh and W. Connection will kick-off at 7:30 pm. CFU’s Club Champion’s Cup third place play-off will precede the Final on May 17th at the Marvin Lee Stadium.

Tempête trounced the Greenbay Hoppers for the 2nd time (and by the same 4-0 score) on a hat-trick by Belfort Kervens Fils and a goal by his substitute Thompson Amius.

Tempête won the quarterfinal with an 8-0 aggregate score over the Antiguans.

The other three semifinalists are the Puerto Rico Islanders, the San Juan Jabloteh and W. Connection, the last two from Trinidad & Tobago.

The Islanders received a bye into the semifinals, while the Jabloteh and Connection qualified by defeating Inter Moengotapoe (Suriname) and Cavaly SA (Haiti) in their respective quarterfinal matches.

The CFU Club Champions Cup semifinalists will find out their opponents on Monday, at noon, when the draw is completed at the CONCACAF offices in New York.

The single-game semifinals will be played on May 15 in Trinidad. The final and third-place match will be also be played in Trinidad on May 17, with the top three teams in the CFU Club Champions Cup qualifying to the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League.

Brazilian midfielder Williams Oliveira (who played for the MLS Chicago Fire in 2007) scored the winning goal by a penalty kick for W. Connection after the expulsion of Cavaly’s Changler Cadet on the 76th minute.

W. Connection now joins the Puerto Rico Islanders and the San Juan Jabloteh as the 3rd team qualified to the 2009 CFU semifinals. Jabloteh advanced this past Monday when they eliminated Inter Moengotapoe from Suriname with a 5-2 aggregate score.

The 4th team to join them (for the semifinals draw) will come from the Tempête FC vs Greenbay Hoppers 2nd-leg match to be played in Haiti on May 1st. Tempête leads the aggregate 4-0.

The 2007-08 CFU Champions Cup 3rd place Puerto Rico Islanders received a quarterfinals (2nd round) bye this year and were given a spot directly in the semifinals. They will await for the three quarter final winners for the semifinals draw. The single-game semifinals will be played on May 15 in Trinidad. The final and third-place match will be also be played in Trinidad on May 17, with the top three teams in the CFU Club Champions Cup qualifying to the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League.

InterMoengo Tapoe was down 1-2 in the aggregate against Jabloteh, but only needed a 1-0 win over the Trinbagonians to eliminate them on account of the away-goals rule. The dutchmen’s 1-0 came early as M. Bron scored a goal for InterMoengo Tapoe on the 3rd minute, but the Surinamese celebration did not last long…

On the 13th minute A. Guerra tied the score 1-1 with the first goal for Jabloteh, meaning that InterMoengo Tapoe now needed 2 more goals to eliminate the Trinidadians, but it wasn’t meant to be. In the 2nd half C. Glen (47′) and R. Primus (65′) scored for Jabloteh to put the game out of reach, get 3-1 win, and advance the Trinidadians on a 5-2 aggregate score to the semifinals.

In the 2nd quarterfinal match of the night, the Greenbay Hoppers lost 0-4 to Haiti’s Tempête FC in St. John’s, Antigua in the 1st leg of their match. H. Charles (28′), T. Amius (34′), E. Cadet (42′) and E. Cadet (70′) scored the Haitian goals. The return leg will be played in Haiti on May 1st.

The 2nd-leg of the Cavaly Sportif vs W. Connection quarterfinal due to be played tonight was rescheduled to April 24th and will be played in Haiti.

The 2007-08 CFU Champions Cup 3rd place Puerto Rico Islanders received a quarterfinals (2nd round) bye this year and were given a spot directly in the semifinals. They will await for the three quarter final winners for the semifinals draw. The single-game semifinals will be played on May 15 in Trinidad. The final and third-place match will be also be played in Trinidad on May 17, with the top three teams in the CFU Club Champions Cup qualifying to the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League.

In the first game of the doubleheader, San Juan Jabloteh defeated the Surinamese InterMoengo Tapoe by a score 2-1; while W. Connection defeated the Cavaly Sportif from Haiti 3-1. The 2nd legs for these matches will be played in Surinam and Haiti respectively on April 20th.

The 1st leg of the Greenbay Hoppers vs Haiti’s Tempête FC quarter final match will be played on April 20th in St. John’s, Antigua. The return leg will be played in Haiti on May 1st.

The 2007-08 CFU Champions Cup 3rd place Puerto Rico Islanders received a quarterfinals (2nd round) bye this year and were given a spot directly in the semifinals. They will await for the three quarter final winners for the semifinals draw. The single-game semifinals will be played on May 15 in Trinidad. The final and third-place match will be also be played in Trinidad on May 17, with the top three teams in the CFU Club Champions Cup qualifying to the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League.

If that were not impressive enough, the Islanders also made their debut in the region’s premier club competition, the CONCACAF Champions League. And nor were they there just to make up the numbers. After eliminating Trinidad and Tobago’s San Juan Jabloteh, the Puerto Ricans were handed a preliminary-round draw against Costa Rican powerhouses Alajuelense for a place in the group stage.

Against all the odds, the Tropa Naranja drew the away leg and completed the job on home soil with two late goals, securing a Group D berth alongside Mexican champions Santos Laguna and established outfits Tauro of Panama and Municipal of Guatemala.

Those who predicted the Caribbean side would be just cannon fodder for their section rivals were once again left with egg on their faces. After recording an extraordinary 3-1 home win against the Mexicans, a hitherto unimaginable place in the knockout stages became a realistic goal, which they duly secured in Panama after a memorable 2-2 draw with Tauro.