NEWLY-MINTED Trinidad and Tobago Premier Football League (TTPFL) tier one champion captain Duane Muckette said Athletic Club of Port of Spain (AC PoS) took nothing for granted this season.
The attacking midfielder skippered his team to the coveted title on Sunday, scoring once in a 3-0 victory over Heritage Petroleum Point Fortin Civic on the league’s final match day.
AC went into the last round of matches atop the standings, but just two points ahead of tailing title contenders Miscellaneous Police FC. The win for the Capital Boys at Mahaica Sports Complex affirmed the 2024 crown and also eclipsed Police’s 1-0 win over Central FC, which confirmed their second-place finish.
Last season, AC PoS faced a similar scenario as they headed into the final game with a two-point advantage over Defence Force.
However, the PoS team stumbled at the last hurdle with a 2-1 loss and scuppered their chance of lifting the inaugural TTPFL tier one trophy.
This year would be no repeat.
“We’ve worked hard all season. We’ve prepared, we’ve slugged it out, we stuck together and very happy to bring home the title.
“The harder the battle the sweeter the victory. We took nothing for granted. We didn’t get complacent and game by game, we remained concentrated,” said an elated Muckette before the trophy presentation.
The AC captain opened the scoring in the 27th minute and so it remained until half time. Nathan Lewis sent them 2-0 up in the 67th before midfielder Michel Poon-Angeron successfully converted a penalty in the 77th to confirm the league crown.
Muckette said heading into the final day, with the title on the line, the team had one job to do.
“To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect (against Civic). I just came to put in the work, the whole team came with that intention, and we knew once we did that everything would fall into place.
“We had to score the chances. We created a lot of chances, and sometimes we don’t put it in, but today we hit the back of the net.”
Though elated, Muckette said they would celebrate after the match, have a rest day on May 20 and return to training on the next two days, ahead of their First Citizens Cup semi-final clash.
He added, “A lot of celebration but we still we’re going to go forward and buckle down for the knockout to come. There’s a chance for us to win two domestic titles and we want to give it our all.”
Rounding off this year’s league table was Police in second, last year’s winners Defence Force third, Club Sando fourth and Terminix La Horquetta Rangers fifth.
Tobago’s 1976 FC Phoenix placed sixth in their first season in the top flight, Caledonia held on to seventh, Civic eighth, Prisons FC ninth, Eagles FC tenth and Central FC in cellar position.
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