10 hours ago
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Trinidad and Tobago Premier Football League (TTPFL) runner-up Club Sando was edged out by Haiti’s Violette AC 1-0 to finish in the runner-up spot in Group B of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup at the Estadio Cibao FC in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, on Tuesday night.
Going into the match, both teams had already qualified for the semifinals, with Violette sitting at the top of the five-team round-robin table with a maximum of nine points from three wins, while Club Sando, under the guidance of coach Angus Eve, had seven points, with only the group winner left to be decided between both teams.
In the end, the loan goal of the match came from an own goal by Club Sando goalkeeper Téshorne Ragoo in the 84th when he fumbled a right-sided cross from Mikenlove Jules Jean into his own net.
With this result, Violette AC recorded its third clean sheet of the Group Stage in Group A, becoming the first Haitian team in Caribbean Cup history to win their group and also becoming just the second team in tournament history to win all four group stage matches, joining last year’s champion Mount Pleasant FA to end with a maximum of four points, and will play the runner-up of Group B in the Semifinals.
Despite the loss, for Club Sando FC, their first in four matches, they will now face the winner of Group B in the Semifinals.
In the other match in Group B on Tuesday night, last year’s third-place finishers, T&T Defence Force, suffered a 3-1 loss to Dominican Republic Delfines del Este at Estadio PUCMM in Santiago De Los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.
Captain Christopher Almonte was ready in the box to send a deflected ball to the back of the net in the 14th, not only opening the score for Delfines del Este but also securing their first goal in the 2026 Caribbean Cup.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 26th minute with Emmanuel Gomez sending a long-range left-foot shot from outside of the box past Defence Force’s goalkeeper Isaiah Williams, and nine minutes later Gomez completed a brace with a left-foot shot in the box.
With nine minutes left in the contest, Defence Force’s captain Justin Garcia scored off a free kick, pulling one back for his team, but it was too little too late to prevent a third defeat in four matches.
With this result, Delfines del Este exited the competition in third place in Group A with five points, two more than Defence Force, while Suriname’s SV Broki finished at the bottom of the group with a point.
Tonight, Group A will determine the top two spots. The top two spots will be decided with the Jamaican trio, inclusive of title holders Mount Pleasant Football Academy, Portmore United and Cavalier FC, all still in the hunt for the two qualification spots from their round-robin series.
The Dominican Republic’s Salcedo FC is the current leader of the Group A table with five points from their four matches, closely followed by their domestic rival Cibao FC with five points, Mount Pleasant with four, Portmore United with three, and Cavalier FC, a further point behind.
In the final round of matches, Cibao FC host Portmore United, while Mount Pleasant and Cavalier clash in Kingston.
At the end of the round-robin group stages, the top two teams in each pool will advance to the semifinals.
In addition to the regional crown, the Caribbean Cup offers a pathway to the 2027 edition of the region’s premier men’s club competition, the Concacaf Champions Cup.
The tournament champion, runner-up, and third-place finisher (a total of three clubs) will qualify for the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup, with the champion receiving a bye to the round-of-16.
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