IT WAS not a match to ‘wow’ about, but Central FC, with a double from Trinidad and Tobago International striker Willis Plaza (53rd and 57th), outclassed Suriname’s Inter Moengotapoe 2-0 in their first Group 1 game of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championship at the Guyana National Stadium yesterday. With the win, Central FC set up a proverbial ‘final’ with Guyana’s Alpha United on Sunday from 13:00hrs while the loss – the second for the Surinamese top club – meant that they have no chance of advancing to the next round.

For the T&T ProLeague side, the clash with Alpha United is a must-win situation, given the face that the Guyanese hold a superior goal difference and will only need a draw to advance.
Nonetheless, despite their win, the Trinidad unit dominated the contest with the side featuring some of the island’s prominent National players.
Plaza, however, would turn out to be the difference on the pitch for the men from the Twin Island Republic, especially in the second stanza since the first finished goalless.
With heavy downpour at the Providence venue, Central FC seemed to adopt faster to the conditions, as Plaza hits it flat and hard to the bottom corner of the net, collecting a pass after a brilliant play by Nathaniel Garcia down the right wing. He sent the ball into the 18-yard area for the 27-year-old forward to score his first of two goals on the day.
The lanky forward was not done yet. Four minutes later, Plaza picked up on a ball just at the top of the ‘18’ and hammered in a powerful right-footed volley, much to the delight to their all but four supporters in the stands.
Inter Moengotapoe really did not trouble the TT ProLeague points leaders with goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams hardly being threatened all afternoon.
The winner of the Group Stage will advance to the second round of the tourney and the final round matches, set for May 20-22, will help to select the region’s top three teams for the CONCACAF Champions League.

Team P W D L GF A GD P
Alpha United 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 3
Central FC 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 3
Moengotapoe 2 0 0 2 0 5 -5 0