2008 First Citizens Cup
Trinidad and Tobago FCB Cup
Tournament details
CountryTrinidad and Tobago
Teams10
Defending championsW Connection (5)
Final positions
ChampionsW Connection
Runner-upJoe Public
Tournament statistics
Matches played10
Goals scored36 (3.6 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)Gregory Richardson
(4 goals)
← 2007
2009 →

The 2008 Trinidad and Tobago League Cup was the ninth season of the First Citizens Cup, which is the league cup competition for Trinidad and Tobago teams competing in the TT Pro League. The slogan for the year's league cup was No Room for Losers and was sponsored by First Citizens Bank for the eighth consecutive year.[1] W Connection entered as the defending champions after having defeated Caledonia AIA 2–0 in the 2007 final for their fourth consecutive league cup title.

Qualification

Seeding for the competition was determined from the league standings following the eighteenth league match day. The bottom four teams were placed in the qualifying round to determine which teams advance to the quarterfinals. The teams ranked from first to sixth advanced directly to the quarterfinals.

The automatic quarterfinal qualifiers in order of league position were: San Juan Jabloteh, W Connection, Caledonia AIA, United Petrotrin, Joe Public, and St. Ann's Rangers.

Schedule

The schedule for the 2008 First Citizens Cup, as announced by the TT Pro League:

Round Date Matches Clubs New entries this round
Qualifying round 2 September 2008
2
10 → 8
4: 7th–10th
Quarterfinals 12 September 2008
4
8 → 4
6: 1st–6th
Semifinals 19 September 2008
2
4 → 2
Third place 26 September 2008
1
2 → 1
Final 26 September 2008
1
2 → 1

Bracket

Qualifying round
2 September 2008
Quarterfinals
12 September 2008
Semifinals
19 September 2008
Final
26 September 2008
1 San Juan Jabloteh 2
9 Ma Pau 1 10 Tobago United 0
10 Tobago United 2 1 San Juan Jabloteh 0
5 Joe Public 1
4 United Petrotrin 2
5 Joe Public 4
5 Joe Public 2 (5)
2 W Connection 2 (6)
3 Caledonia AIA 3 (3)
7 North East Stars 1 (0) 6 St. Ann's Rangers 3 (4)
8 Defence Force 1 (3) 6 St. Ann's Rangers 0 Third place
2 W Connection 2
2 W Connection 5 1 San Juan Jabloteh 1
8 Defence Force 2 6 St. Ann's Rangers 2


Results

All matches were played for 90 minutes duration, at the end of which if the match was still tied, penalty-kicks were used to determine the match winner.

Qualifying round

The knockout cup began in the qualifying round with Tobago United and Defence Force recording upsets over higher-seeded Ma Pau and North East Stars respectively.

2 September 2008 Tobago United 2–1 Ma Pau Malabar, Trinidad
17:00 (UTC-4) Hercules 68' (pen.)
Hernandez 82'
Proctor 19' Stadium: Larry Gomes Stadium
Referee: Gordon Maloney

2 September 2008 North East Stars 1–1
(0–3 p)
Defence Force Malabar, Trinidad
19:00 (UTC-4) Teesdale 60' Jorsling 50' Stadium: Larry Gomes Stadium
Penalties
Stewart soccer ball with red X
Cooper soccer ball with red X
Jeffrey soccer ball with red X
Pierre soccer ball with check mark
Jorsling soccer ball with check mark
Williams soccer ball with check mark

Quarterfinals

Fans saw a goal spree in the quarterfinals where 22 goals were scored in four matches on 12 September, which saw Jabloteh, Joe Public, Rangers, and W Connection advance to the semifinals.

12 September 2008 San Juan Jabloteh 2–0 Tobago United Malabar, Trinidad
18:00 (UTC-4) Noel 14' (pen.)
Forbes 87'
Stadium: Larry Gomes Stadium

12 September 2008 United Petrotrin 2–4 Joe Public Marabella, Trinidad
18:00 (UTC-4) Aguillera 11'
Woodley 18'
Richardson 5', 19', 26'
Calderon 44'
Stadium: Manny Ramjohn Stadium
Referee: Phillip Jordan

12 September 2008 St. Ann's Rangers 3–3
(4–3 p)
Caledonia AIA Malabar, Trinidad
20:00 (UTC-4) Thomas 37'
Edwards 41'
Belgrave 53' (pen.)
Moore 6'
Smith 18', 26'
Stadium: Larry Gomes Stadium

12 September 2008 W Connection 5–2 Defence Force Marabella, Trinidad
20:00 (UTC-4) Hector 15', 53'
Faña 40'
Viana 43'
Toussaint 89'
Williams 6'
Carter 57'
Stadium: Manny Ramjohn Stadium

Semifinals

On 19 September 2008, Joe Public used a lone goal from Gregory Richardson to advance to the final. In the other semifinal, W Connection blanked St. Ann's Rangers after goals from Jonathan Faña and Atiba McKnight on either side of half-time.

19 September 2008 San Juan Jabloteh 0–1 Joe Public Marabella, Trinidad
20:00 (UTC-4) Report Richardson 48' Stadium: Manny Ramjohn Stadium
Referee: Austin Perelion

19 September 2008 W Connection 2–0 St. Ann's Rangers Marabella, Trinidad
18:00 (UTC-4) Faña 8'
McKnight 74'
Report Stadium: Manny Ramjohn Stadium

Third place

With wins by Joe Public and W Connection in the semifinals; San Juan Jabloteh and St. Ann's Rangers were sent to the third place match. Before the final match, St. Ann's Rangers used strikes from Keyon Edwards and Josimar Belgrave in two minutes to put away top seeded San Juan Jabloteh for a third-place finish.

26 September 2008 San Juan Jabloteh 1–2 St. Ann's Rangers Marabella, Trinidad
18:00 (UTC-4) Marcano 67' Report Edwards 60'
Belgrave 61'
Stadium: Manny Ramjohn Stadium
Referee: Julien Drayton

Final

W Connection claimed their fifth consecutive title and sixth overall in the tournament's nine-year history with a win over Joe Public in the final. The match was held on 26 September in Manny Ramjohn Stadium. After being dead-locked 2–2 at the end of regulation, W Connection used a miss by Joe Public's Jason Springer on the twelfth kick from the penalty spot to win 6–5 in the shootout.[2] Although Joe Public finished runners-up, Gregory Richardson led the tournament with four goals scored.

26 September 2008 W Connection 2–2
(6–5 p)
Joe Public Marabella, Trinidad
20:00 (UTC-4) Toussaint 18'
Faña 35'
Report Harvey 11'
Thomas 55'
Stadium: Manny Ramjohn Stadium
Referee: Gregory Hospedales
Penalties
Faña soccer ball with check mark
Toussaint soccer ball with check mark
Seabra soccer ball with check mark
Viveros soccer ball with red X
Joseph soccer ball with check mark
Cupid soccer ball with check mark
McKnight soccer ball with check mark
Baptiste soccer ball with check mark
Dwarika soccer ball with red X
Harvey soccer ball with check mark
Saunders soccer ball with check mark
Wolfe soccer ball with check mark
Thomas soccer ball with check mark
Springer soccer ball with red X

References

  1. ^ "First Citizens ploughs $200,000 in KO series". T&T Guardian. 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  2. ^ "W Connection rules on penalty kicks". T&T Guardian. 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2009-08-22.