Hat-tricks from AC Port-of-Spain captain Duane Muckette and Isaiah Leecoack of the Defence Force have set up a showdown between the teams in the final of the First Citizens Cup next week at a date and time to be determined.
On Thursday night at the Mucurapo facility, both teams were equally convincing in their semifinal encounters. The Army Coast-Guard men, playing the opening match of the doubleheader, overcame the erection of the Berlin Wall by the Central FC defensive back line to pepper their opponents 5-0, courtesy of the heroics of striker Leacock.
The Central Sharks, though lough losing 1-0 to second-place Miscellaneous Police at the weekend were bolstered by their uncanny resistance, which gave them hopes of an upset.
However, Leacock registered an early sign of trouble for the Sharks when he found the nets in the 20th minute. And with that came multiple chances to increase the Army advantage, but chances went begging at every interval.
Still, it was not enough to instill fear into the hearts of the Central FC men, who sought to re-enforce their backline while attempting to play on the counter-attack. The Defence Force led 1-0 at the halftime interval and upon the return Justin Garcia handed them another for a 2-0 lead in the 51st minute.
Leacock then fired in two goals in the space of four minutes to almost seal the win for his team, while sealing his hat-trick in the match. The first of his two items came in the 70th minute to take the scoreline to 3-0, and four minutes later he went into celebration mood for a third time in the 74th minute.
Lanky Army striker Brent Sam then hammered the final nail into the Central FC coffin when he found the nets in the 86th minute.
Meanwhile, Muckette, the now reliable AC Port-of-Spain midfielder was at his very best on the night against Prison Services, guiding his men to a comfortable 4-1 victory, for the right to meet the Army in the final.
Fresh from his stint on the T&T team against Guyana, Muckette made his presence felt in the 16th minute, firing the Capital City Boyz in front for a 1-0 lead from the penalty spot.
Later he took them a step closer to a final berth with a 36th-minute item that left the Prison officers reeling. However, the officers put a spoke in their wheel before the teams left for the halftime break, when Seon Thomas pulled a goal back in the 39th minute, reducing the score to 2-1.
Muckette and Sedale Mc Lean then combined for two more goals to kill all chances the prison officers had of a return.
Muckette’s 58th-minute goal first pushed the score to 3-1, as Muckette celebrated his hat-trick, and Mc Lean got the game’s final goal in the 63rd minute to complete their entry into the final.
