Former winner, Play Whe San Juan Jabloteh and Pt Fortin Civic completed the semifinal line-up for the Toyota Classic Cup competition with narrow wins over pre-match favourites Club Sando and Central FC at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, on Monday night.
Playing less than 72 hours after their rescheduled round-of-16 matches, wins overLa Horquetta SA (3-0) and Japs North East Stars (1-0), Central FC and Club Sando, were still expected to have enough in them to reach the semifinals.
However, it was not the case as first, Club Sando, the current National Super League leader and last year's tournament beaten finalist, was stopped by a 41st minute penalty from Jamaican Andre Reid for Jabloteh, winners in 2008 and runner-up a year later.
The penalty was awarded by referee Neil Brizan for a handled ball in the area while Club Sando striker Kevon Woodley was red carded in the second-half as his team fialed to convert on a number of chances during the match, which included a second-half penalty saved from Jabloteh goalkeeper Shane Mattis.
With the win, Jabloteh, set up a semifinal clash on Saturday at Couva from 5 pm with fellow Digicel T&T Pro League outfit Police which got the better of Defence Force 4-3 on penalty-kicks after a 1-1 draw at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella on Saturday.
And in the other semifinal, tournament giant-killer WASA FC of the Super League will meet Pt Fortin Civic which battled past Pro League leader Central FC 4-2 on penalty-kicks following a goalless draw in Monday's second quarterfinal.
The "Central Sharks" winner of the First Citizens Cup already this season have only themselves to blame though as they missed a host of chances while Pt Fortin custodian Marvin Phillip also came up trumps for his team on the night.
In the penalty shoot-out, Pt Fortin's Andre Ettienne, Andrei Pacheco, Kevon Rouse and Steven Joseph all scored their attempts while Jason Marcano and Qian Grosvenor were the only two Central players to beat goalkeeper Phillip as the usually reliable Marvin Oliver smashed his effort onto the cross-bar, and Akeem Benjamin fired wide.
WASA kicked off its tournament campaign by dumping three-time winner and title-holder DirecTV W Connection 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw followed by a come-from-behind win over another Pro League club, Caledonia AIA, 2-1 in the quarterfinals.
The semifinal winners will face off in the final on December 12 at a venue to be decided and for which the winner will receive $50,000 while the runner-up gets $20,000. The top "Goalscorer" and "Coach of the Tournament" will collect $1,000 each while $1,500 will be awarded to the "Most Valuable Player" overall.
Also, new to the Toyota Classic this season, each competing teams were required to select a Secondary Schools Football League's (SSFL) team from within their community.
The SSFL teams chosen by the 2014 Toyota Classic finalists will meet in the first match of a double header on the Final day on December 12.
Jabloteh have already selected East Intercol champions San Juan North Secondary while Police have Fatima College and Civic with Pt Fortin East Secondary. WASA is yet to determine their school of choice.
Toyota Classic results
Monday's quaterfinals
Central FC 0 vs Pt Fortin Civic 0- Pt Fortin won 4-2 on penalty-kicks
San Juan Jabloteh 1 (Adrian Reid 41st) vs Club Sando 0
Remaining Fixtures
Semifinals
Saturday
Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva:
Police vs San Juan Jabloteh, 5 pm
WASA vs Pt Fortin Civic, 7 pm
Final: December 12