REIGNING champions Guaya United have exited the TT Super League (TTSL) League Cup knock-out competition at the first round after a shock loss on penalties to San Fernando Giants on Sunday.
The match finished 2-2 at full time after Guaya came from 0-2 down to draw level. Philvoughn Jones and Keston Grant scored in the 25th and 53rd minutes respectively to stun Guaya, before Ronaldo McIntosh and Carlon Hughes pulled the goals back shortly after. No additional time was played after 90 minutes under the tournament rules and San Fernando Giants went on to win 3-2 from the spot kicks. It was a surprising result given the two teams run of form heading into the match.
Guaya started the season slowly but recently found themselves on an upward momentum. They now sit fourth in the league standings. San Fernando Giants, meanwhile, have not won a match this season and sit second from bottom in the 14-team league standings, with six draws and seven losses in 13 matches.
The match was one of three which went down to spot kicks.
Cunupia FC, however, needed no such luck, getting past Metal X Erin FC. Kevon Woodley, who leads the league scoring chart with 12 goals for the season, bagged a hat-trick in just seven minutes as Cunupia thrashed Erin – the last placed team in the league – 7-2. Mikheil Peters scored two goals for Cunupia, and the others came from Julio Noel and Michael Darko.
The knock-out competition will resume on Saturday with the start of the quarter-final stage. The league leaders Queen's Park and FC Santa Rosa have entered the quarter-finals on byes.
Results:
League Cup (Round One)
Cunupia FC 7 (Julio Noel 16th, Michael Darko 40th pen, Mikheil Peters 47th, 56th, Kevon Woodley 73rd, 74th, 80th) v Metal X Erin FC 2 (Dual Moore 48th, Sylvester Teesdale 90th+3).
Guaya United 2 (Ronaldo McIntosh 56th, Carlon Hughes 60th) v San Fernando Giants 2 (Philvoughn Jones 25th, Keston Grant 53rd). San Fernando Giants won 3-2 in penalty shoot-out.
Matura Reunited 2 (Kerin Vincent 21st, Stevon Stoute 61st) v Petit Valley/Diego Martin United 3 (David Lendor 12th, Jose Centeno Parra 39th, Seker Murai 44th pen).
Police FC 3 (Kadeem Riley 16th, 70th, own goal 52nd) v Bethel United 1 (Tejay Cadiz 47th).
Prison Service 1 (Kylon Gay 52nd pen) v Club Sando 1 (Marcus Griffith 72nd). Prison Servic won 5-4 in penalty shoot-out.
RSSR FC 1 (Perez Popwell 48th) v UTT 1 (Akil Clarke 32nd). RSSR FC won 4-3 in penalty shoot-out.
11