CL FINANCIAL San Juan Jabloteh and Defence Force Professional Football League clubs both advanced to tomorrow’s T&T Football Federation Simpaul Travel FA final after similar 2-0 semifinal wins.
This was in a double-header at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya on Sunday.
In the first match of the evening, the Defence Force PFL players got first-half goals from Devon Jorsling and Christon “Paw Boy” Baptiste to shut out their Northern Football Association’s Defence Force counterparts.
The match was only three minutes old when striker Jorsling fired his team into the lead.
However, the Defence Force NFA players never dropped their heads and boosted by the determination of winger Sterling O’Brian created a few nervous moments for goalkeeper Cleon John, the hero of the Defence Force PFL-outfit penalty-kick quarter-final win over VIBE CT 105 W Connection in the previous round.
Baptiste, the brother of Jabloteh midfielder Kerry Baptiste made it 2-0 in the 25th minute when he confidently blasted in a left footed penalty-kick sending goalkeeper Shurland Wheeler, the wrong way.
The kick was awarded after Wheeler, the hero in his team’s quarterfinal win over Maraval Youth Academy, upended midfielder Christopher Durity in the 18-yard box.
Defence Force, without any major success in two years are assured of a spot in the FA final, the most prestigious competition in local football,.
However judging by their performance over the 80 minutes of the match, they will need to double their output if they are to lift the title.
The feature match between last year’s FA winners National Quarries North East Stars and Jabloteh also got off to a lively start, for another reason.
After coming close to finding an opening goal within the first five minutes, Stars were then reduced to 10 players after the expulsion of central defender and captain Charles Pollard by referee Shane De Silva for an off the ball incident.
Stars were awarded a free-kick just outside the top right hand corner of the Jabloteh penalty-area and while setting up his defensive line, Jabloteh defender Ronald Primus was allegedly struck by Pollard, himself a former Jabloteh player.
Because her back was turned to the incident, De Silva went over to referee’s assistant Solomon Brewster to enquire about the incident and after a few seconds of deliberation, she walked over to Pollard and handed him his marching orders.
This did not go down too well the Stars supporters, who from then on continuously hurled insults at the female official and Brewster.
Members of the Jabloteh administration who were seated in the main stands were also the subject of some abusive language from some irate Stars fans.
Within a few minutes Primus was again the centre of attention when he was whistled for a foul on Anthony Wolfe inside the penalty-area.
But instead of pointing to the penalty-spot De Silva awarded an indirect free-kick, which was skewed wide by Stars player/coach Jerren Nixon.
Gary Glasgow then had the match’s first clear cut chance to put Stars ahead but after wrong-footing defender Keyeno Thomas, he scuffed his right footed attempt straight at goalkeeper Daurance Williams from less than 10-yards out.
Jabloteh meanwhile had little to show for their efforts up front as strikers Kerry Noray and Jason Marcano were often left isolated and proved to be non-effective against the 10-man Stars and the teams went in goal-less at the end of the first 40-minutes.
Four minutes into the second-half, Aurtis Whitley combined with Marcano to put Jabloteh ahead.
Whitley, a key member of the history making Soca Warriors, collected the ball just inside Stars half, and worked his way to the edge of the penalty-area before squaring to an unmarked Marcano, who wasted little time in blasting a right footed shot past Stars goalkeeper, Trevor Nottingham.
With time running out, Nixon replaced himself with the younger and equally lively Kendall Jagdeosingh while Brent Antoine came in for Walter Moore.
However, they were quickly reduced to nine men, when goalkeeper Nottingham foolishly retaliated against a seemingly fair challenge outside the area from Jabloteh winger Cyd Gray, another locally based member of the senior national team.
Nottingham hit Gray in the back of his head right in the view of De Silva and was given his marching orders.
And with four minutes left on the clock Noray sealed the win for Jabloteh when he was on spot to tap home from less than six yards out after stand-in goalkeeper Kevin Jeffrey had done well to keep out an attempt from Jabloteh’s substitute, Nigel Codrington.
Tomorrow’s final will be the fourth of the season for Jabloteh, who won the PFL Pro Bowl final beating W Connection 1-0 in the final.
However, they were also beaten by W Connection in the First Citizens Bank Cup and Toyota Classic deciders and have little chance of winning the Big Six competition, so they too will be hungry for the FA trophy.
Sunday’s T&TFF FA Trophy result
(Semifinals)
DEFENCE FORCE (PFL) 2 (Devon Jorsling 3rd, Christon Baptiste 25th pen) vs DEFENCE FORCE (NFA) 0.
SAN JUAN JABLOTEH 2 (Jason Marcano 49th, Kerry Noray 76th) vs NORTH EAST STARS 0.