MBU to compete in CFU club championships this weekend
MONTEGO Bay United (MBU) will be seeking a date with destiny this weekend when they compete in the semi-final and final stages of the Caribbean Football Union’s Club Championships at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad.
The first-time entrants MBU are seeking to join several other Jamaican clubs in winning the Caribbean title and earn one of three places in the lucrative CONCACAF Club Championships next season.
After crushing Waterhouse 5-1 in Sunday’s return-leg semi-finals of the Red Stripe Premier League at the Montego Bay Sports Complex and advancing to the finals against Arnett Gardens with an 8-2 aggregate, MBU will hope to carry over the momentum to the CFU tournament.
Montego Bay United will face Trinidad’s Direct TV W Connection FC in the semi-finals on Friday night in the second game, which follows Don Bosco FC of Haiti and another Trinidad club, Central FC, playing in the other semi-final.
The winners of Friday’s semi-finals will automatically qualify for the finals as well as the CONCACAF competition, while the losers will meet in the third-place game on Sunday, with the winner also advancing.
MBU had qualified for this stage after topping the first-round group, played in Haiti last month, winning all three games.
MBU will be without two regular starters: Keniel Kirlew, who received a nasty gash on his left ankle in the first-leg semi-final against Waterhouse, and Fabian McCarthy who was injured in the first round of the CFU competition in Haiti and will likely miss the rest of the season.
However, they will have the in-form Dino Williams and Allan Ottey. Dwayne Ambusley, Jermaine Woozencroft and Owayne Gordon have all lifted their game.
Williams, who left Sunday’s game early with a knock, has been instrumental in MBU’s domination of Waterhouse and was involved in at least five of the eight goals his team scored in the two RSPL semi-final games.
Ottey appear to be returning to his best form, while goalkeeper Jacomeno Barrett anchors a tight-knit defensive unit led by the unassuming Ladale Richie and Orland McBayne.
