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postheadericon Caledonia AIA makes CFU debut

T&T Pro League 2009/2010 runner-up Caledonia AIA will make its debut in the Caribbean Football Union Club Championship when it meets host Newtown United FC of St Kitts/Nevis tonight.
 
The match between the Caledonia ‘Stallions’ and Newtown Utd takes place at Warner Park, from 8 pm. The Caledonia squad under coach Jamaal Shabazz left here yesterday and will be led Densill by hardworking midfielder Stephan David and includes experienced internationals Theobald and Guyanese Walter Moore. The Morvant Laventille lads who won eight out of nine second-round matches in the Pro league moved from sixth in the first round to finish second, behind champion Defence Force, to earn the right to represent T&T in the CFU tournament.

For tonight’s match, Caledonia will depend heavily on attacking midfielders Akim Armstrong and Ryan “Fry” Stewart while the dependable Nuru Muhammad, Moore and Kareem Joseph will be complemented with the return of national defender Daniel Cyrus to stabilise the defence. However dazzling midfielder Abdallah Phillips is out with a calf injury while a trial with a US experienced striker Conrad Smith did not make the trip due to Major League Soccer club.  The squad had a training session yesterday evening mere hours after settling in at the scenic Frigate Beach Resort and according to coach Jamaal Shabazz, the squad is very upbeat and eager for tonight’s encounter.

Shabazz said: “I think we have a good team that has learnt the importance of results but we are also very interested in playing attractively and enjoying the game,” “Training through the carnival period has been important especially in shaping the mindset of the players. Shabazz said Jamaican goalkeeper Kevin Graham will start in goal in front of Joseph, Cyrus, Muhammad and Moore at the back.

The five-man midfield will be anchored by David and Densill Theobald with Jean-Luc Rochford behind the lone striker in Keyon Edwards and the very skillful duo of Akim Armstrong and Ryan Stewart on the flanks.

Caledonia AIA of Morvant Laventille is expected to return home tomorrow evening. The local club prepared well for the clash with Newtown United with warm-up victories over the T&T’s Under-20 (4-2) and Under-23 squads (3-1) and also edged Defence Force 2-1 on Carnival Sunday at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar.
 
Caledonia will host the second-leg on March 19 with the winner tackling the winner of the tie between, Tempete FC (Haiti) and  Bathestate FC (Dominica) in the second round.