The athleticism and fitness of youth was once again key as six-time champion, W Connection blanked DirecTV North East Stars 4-0 in their T&T Pro League First Citizens Cup Group B quarterfinal encounter on Tuesday night. This was in the second of quarterfinal day two matches at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo. Going into the clash, W Connection 4-2 victors over Caledonia AIA in its first match at the same venue on Friday last needed only a draw to cement its place in the last-four. Stars, meanwhile was playing its first match in the competition ahead of tomorrow's encounter with Caledonia, which will now be a virtual decider for the other semifinal spot from the three-team group.
But despite promising to bounce back from its league loss to debutants' T&TEC 2-1 on September 9, the Sangre Grande-based Stars were slow out of the blocks and were lucky not to fall behind as early as the sixth minuet when W Connection striker, Jerrel Britto skimmed the right post with a right footed effort from inside the 18-yard box. Within a few minutes' Stars goalkeeper Andrew Durant had to move quickly to his right to keep tip overbar a goalbound free-kick from national midfielder, and W Connection captain Hughton Hector as the "Savonetta Boys' pressed for the early lead. At the other end of the field, Stars' newcomer and former England-based T&T international Stern John, playing his first match in the T&T Pro League had two half-chances to put his team ahead, first with a header and then with a right-footed attempt, but he muffed both chances.
Apart from the two chances for John, W Connection was in command of the match and in the 33rd minute its vice-captain Shahdon Winchester rose unchallenged to head home a right-sided centre from Hector past Durant for a 1-0 lead. Four minutes' the Stuart Charles-Fevrier-coached made it 2-0 to take into the interval, almost from identical fashion as defender Mekeil Williams headed in a right-sided free-kick from Hector on the near post. The "Savonetta Boys" picked up where it left off after the restart with its youthful midfield of Hector, 17-year-old Jomal Williams, Keron Cummings, 23, and 20-year-old Joevin Jones controlling proceedings. And it came as no surprise when Hector made it 3-0 in the 52nd minute when he slotted home at the far post from a pin-point Winchester right centre-sided after the latter eluded Stars' defender Seon Powers on the right flank.
After squandering two more half-chances, Britto fired in his team's fourth item with a fierce left-footed blast from just inside the area before John managed to pull a goal back for Stars with a right-footed blast that whisked past goalkeeper Aquelius Sylvester and into the net off the underside of the crossbar. With the win, W Connection, which also handed a debut to Matthew Woo Ling who celebrated his 15th birthday last Thursday, finished round-robin play with maximum six points and will meet the Group A runner-up in the semifinals. However, Stars face Caledonia tomorrow at the same venue from 7 pm, needing nothing less than a victory to secure the other spot.
...T&TEC lets Jabloteh off the hook
In Tuesday's first match, T&TEC squandered a three-goal lead (4-1) as two-time winner Adams Construction San Juan Jabloteh battled back for a 4-4 draw with substitute Luke Gullick banging in the equaliser in the 89th minute from the edge of the 18-yard box. T&TEC, which led at the half 2-1 after a double from Kerlon Ferguson in the 11th and 39th minutes, has only itself to blame, though, as midfielder Andrei Pacheco after making it 3-1 in the 54th minute also had a penalty attempt saved by Jabloteh's Cleon John, which seemed to ignite the fightback by the Earl Carter-coached club. The drawn result left T&TEC top of the table with two points from its two matches while Jabloteh and St Ann's Rangers which face off tomorrow from 5 pm, have a point each.
Mathematically, T&TEC will feel it has done enough to cement its semifinal spot, but should the Rangers and Jabloteh also end in a draw, then the two qualifiers from the group could well be determined via goal differences or even a coin toss. The two qualifiers from each group will meet in crossover semifinals on September 30 followed by the final on October 14. The winner of this year's competition will walk away with $80,000, while the runner-up gets $20,000.
Current Group standings:
Group A:
Teams P W D L F A Pts
T&TEC 2 0 2 0 4 4 2
Jabloteh 1 0 1 0 4 4 1
Rangers 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Group B:
Teams P W D L F A Pts
W Connection 2 2 0 0 8 3 6
Caledonia 1 0 0 1 2 4 0
NE Stars 1 0 0 1 1 4 0
Remaining matches:
Venue: Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo
Quarterfinal Day 3:
Tomorrow:
St Ann's Rangers vs Jabloteh, 5 pm
Caledonia vs N-East Stars, 7 pm
Semis: Friday September 30
A 1 vs B 2
A 2 vs B 1
Final: October 14
First Citizens Cup 2011/2012
Group A: T&TEC, St Ann's Rangers, San Juan Jabloteh
Group B: W Connection, Caledonia AIA, North East Stars
Tuesday's Results:
Quarterfinal Day Two:
Group A:
T&TEC 4 (Kerlon Ferguson 11th, 39th, Andrei Pacheco 54th, Kelvin Modeste 58th) vs Jabloteh 4 (Willis Plaza 30th, 78th, Hector Sam 68th pen, Luke Gullick 89th)
Group B:
W Connection 4 (Shahdon Winchester 33rd, Mekeil Williams 37th, Hughton Hector 52nd, Jerrel Britto 74th) vs North East Stars 1 (Stern John 81st).
