Carter guides Army past Oilmen, Connection edge Jabloteh in Goal Shield

Carter silenced the Oilmen seconds before the halftime whistle for a 1-0 advantage and made certain of the victory when he completed his double six minutes from fulltime.

United Petrotrin had levelled the scores eight minutes following the break with a Nigel Daniel 25 yard free kick but were at a one goal deficit again in the 77th minute when Devon Jorsling netted for Army.

Defence Force are now into the Final against W Connection, after the Savonnetta Boys edged past San Juan Jabloteh 1-0 in the second semifinal clash at the Marabella venue.

United Petrotrin had the best opening effort when Devon Caseman’s 12th minute shot from 25 yards out had to be tipped behind by Kevin Graham.

The resulting corner saw Cyd Gray flick an attempt on near post and Graham was again alert to gather this time.

A minute later Aurtis Whitley had a decent attempt on goal from above the area after meeting Kennedy Hinkson’s pass from the right but was able to beat the Army custodian.

Carter was disappointing in the 22nd minute hitting a tame leftfooted shot on goalkeeper Glenroy Samuel from the edge of the six yard area in which the Petrotrin goalie responded with an easy push-out.

Five minutes later on the other end Gary Glasgow directed a cross overbar from inside the six yard area after a mix-up between goalkeeper Graham and defender Keston Williams.

Kwame Wiltshire was another off target player hitting into the sky after being teed-up by Glasgow inside the Defence Force area as both teams flopped at their chances.

Carter had the ball into United Petrotrin’s far netting in the 32nd minute however it was ruled out for the offside infringement.

Carter finally got in the 45th minute giving Defence Force a 1-0 advantage heading into the half after a well orchestrated play by the soldiers beginning with Micahel Edwards’ ball winning tackle inside their half. United Petrotrin made a couple of half clearances before Carter smashed the ball into Samuel’s far netting.

Eight minutes into the second half and Petrotrin were back in the game 1-1 courtesy a well placed free kick by Nigel Daniel beating Graham from 25 yards out after referee Lee Davis awarded the Oilmen a freekick after an Anton Pierre challenge on Kennedy Hinkson—in which Pierre confessed he won the ball and not the player.

Army created a couple openings later on however muffed at their chances forcing coach Ross Russell to call on Owen Mathews in the 71st minute—hoping for the same effect he had against Joe Public in the quarterfinals when he rescued them in the 90th minute for a 1-1 draw and then scoring the final kick in a 4-2 penalty win.

However it was starting strikers Devon Jorsling and Kevon Carter who came to Russell’s rescue in the 77th and 84th minutes for a 3-1victory.

Jorsling met Balthazar’s cross inside the area and did what was expected of him beating Samuel for a 2-1 score and Kevon Carter later left defenders Cyd Gray and Makan Hislop for dead inside the area before placing the ball well out of Samuel’s stretch and into the far corner to secure a 3-1 and the Soldiers place in the Final of the Lucozade Sport Goal Shield on Friday June 26.   

United Petrotrin 1—3 Defence Force
Nigel Daniel 53’ ; Kevon Carter 45’ 84’, Devon Jorsling 77’

United Petrotrin—Glenroy Samuel, Cyd Gray (capt), Makan Hislop, Devon Caseman (Trent Lougheed 79th), Kwame Wiltshire (Yellow) (Simeon Augustus 46th), Aurtis Whitley (Stephan Cambell 75th), Gary Glasgow, Nigel Daniel, Gymho Harper (Yellow), Anthony Noreiga, Kennedy Hinkson.

Coach—Marcos Tinoco

Defence Force—Kevin Graham, Michael Edwards (capt), Anton Pierre (Yellow), Keston Williams, Christopher Durity (Owen Mathew 71st) (Yellow), Devon Jorsling (Ronald St Louis 80th), Kevon Carter (Richard Roy 88th), Jerwyn Balthazar, Corey Rivers, Sean Narcis (Yellow), Kerry Joseph.

Coach—Ross Russell

Match Referee—Lee Davis

Connection edge Jabloteh in Goal Shield semis brawl.

W Connection Dominican Republic striker Jonathan Frias’ first half item was the deciding one in his team’s 1-0 victory over bitter rivals San Juan Jabloteh on Friday night the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium in which four red cards were issued.

Match referee Geoffrey Hospidales was in the spotlight for a number of reasons including four red cards issued during the battle between the two Pro League powerhouses in the semi-finals of the 2009 Lucozade Sport Goal Shield.

Both Jabloteh and Connection fell a man down minutes into the match after a fist fight between Robert Primus and Matthew Bartholomew following goalkeeper Cleon John’s magnificent save denying Andre Toussaint at close range.

Both players in the incident were awarded direct red cards by referee Hospidales who surely didn’t have the slightest clue that his red card will have to work again.

Ten minutes from time Hospidales dished out another serving of red cards dismissing Jabloteh’s Ataullah Guerra and W Connection’s Christian Viveros as the match went into disarray reducing the teams to nine-men each after a scuffle between both players following a challenge in midfield.

However in the end it was Frias’ decisive item which ruled for a 1-0 score in favour of the Southerners booking their team into the Final on Friday 26 against earlier semi-final winner Defence Force in a 3-1 win over United Petrotrin.

Frias is currently leading the way with 3 goals in the tournament following his double against Caledonia AIA of Morvant Laventille in the quarterfinals.

Following the first issue of red cards Jabloteh coach Earl Jean made a defensive change in the 22nd minute replacing forward Cyrano Glen with defender Anton Hutchinson.

But that didn’t stop Jabloteh from pressing forward having a couple tries at the Connection goal with wingback Noel Williams having the best try in the 28th minute whisking a powerful shot past Miguel Lloyd’s far post.

Cleon John was brilliant again in the 32nd minute blocking out a well taken William Da Silva Oliveira  free kick from 23 yards out after Hector went down under Hutchinson’s challenge.

However John was unable to stop Jonathan Frias’ blast from inside the area after the Jabloteh defence failed to clear an initial freekick to safety in the 37th minute as Connection stole a 1-0 advantage which they kept till the half time whistle.

The second half proved a tight contest between the Pro League powerhouses but had its openings.

In the 67th minute Toussaint hammered wide of John’s net and less than a minute later on the other end goalkeeper Lloyd got his gloves to Ataulla Guerra’s curling effort from inside the area putting it off.

The crowd got something to roar about when in the 77th minute Marvin Oliver’s on target header from Elton john’s freekick was acrobatically cleared off the line by W Connection captain Elijah Joseph to preserve his team’s advantage.

While Jabloteh’s appeal for the goal only awarded captian Marvin Oliver a yellow card for abusive language on the far assistant.

Less than a minute later W Connection Colombian midfielder Christian Viveros thought he had given his team a 2-0 advantage, however it was ruled offside and his celebrations cancelled prior to his dismissal in the 80th minute.

Connection had another item ruled offside in the dying stages as referee Hospidales received taunts from the crowd at the Marabella venue.

Six minutes from time Noel whisked a shot from distance over Lloyd’s crossbar and in the final minute of regular time Elton John was inches too high of levelling the scores from 35 yards out and giving his team a lifeline.

San Juan Jabloteh 0—1 W Connection
0 ; Jonathon Frias 37’

San Juan Jabloteh—Cleon John, Marvin Oliver (capt) (Yellow), Cyrano Glen (Anton Hutchinson 22nd), Noel Williams (Yellow), Ataullah Guerra (Red), Elton John, Jason Marcano, Devon Jamerson (Hector Sam 87th), Robert Primus (Red), Sheldon Bateau, Elijah Manners (Kevaughn Connell 59th)

Coach—Earl Jean

W Connection—Miguel Lloyd, Elijah Joseph (capt), William da Silva Oliveira (Yellow), kern Cupid, Renato Pereira, Jonathan Frias (Kelvin Modeste 88th), Andre Toussaint, Hughtun Hector (Andrei Pacheco 72nd), Matthew Bartholomew (Red), Christian Viveros (Red), Gerrard Williams

Coach—Stuart Charles Fevrier

Match Referee—Geoffrey Hospidales