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Club Shield format puts Arnett in must-win pickle
July 29, 2025
Despite their dominant 4-0 win against Dublanc to open their Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Shield campaign, Arnett Gardens are in a precarious must-win situation when they take on AC Port of Spain today in the final match of Group D.
Arnett will take on Trinidadian outfit AC Port of Spain at the Hasely Crawford Stadium with the aim of closing out the first round as group leaders to advance to the knockout stages of the Club Shield.
However, the Junglists face a tough predicament as even a win might not be enough to take them to the top of the standings, and that is due to the competition's format.
The Club Shield has changed from their knockout format last year, and has began using the Swiss-style model for this year's staging.
By using the Swiss model, Arnett will only face two of the five teams in their group.
With only the group leader set to advance to the knockout rounds, the Junglists could face elimination even if they end their group phase with a perfect win record.
They currently sit second in the group on goal difference, as their 4-0 win over Dublanc was bettered by Club Franciscain's 6-1 hammering of Doc's United in their opening game.
Arnett are now faced with the predicament of needing a statement win against AC Port of Spain, while needing a favourable result in Club Franciscain's fixture against Scholars International of the Cayman Islands.
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Speaking after Sunday's win against Dublanc, Phillip Williams, head coach of Arnett Gardens, critiqued his team's end product.
Williams believes that while the team has created chances, they will need to improve if they are to advance to the knockout rounds.
"A win is a win," he said. "In terms of the performance, it was a complete performance. We created the chances, we created the moments but it's about not taking our chances or converting all the chances that we got."
For AC Port of Spain, today's match will also be a decider in their aim of advancing to the next round as they also won their opening game.
The Trinidadian club defeated Scholars United 2-1.
The match is set to kick off at 1 p.m. Jamaica time at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
