Hail Defence Force, winner of the T&T Premier Football League (TTPFL) Knockout Cup, after they defeated Terminix La Horquetta Rangers in a hotly-contested final 5-3 at the Diego Martin Sports Complex on Saturday night.
The title added to their triumph of the League trophy won a month ago, courtesy of a 2-1 victory over AC Port-of-Spain. But Saturday, it was not only the goal-scoring prowess of Sam but the combined efforts of all, inclusive of Reon Moore, Justin Sadoo, Kevon Goddard and just a bit of luck.
Before a full house at a soggy Diego Martin ground, Rangers, who entered the match without a win against their counterparts for the TTPFL season this year, were happy to poke their noses in front after just the 15th minute. Tyrone Charles galloped down the left flank to connect with a telling through pass from Ross Russell Jr and he hit the ball past goalkeeper Christopher Biggette for a 1-0 advantage.
The goal caused a major uproar for the Rangers supporters, however, the Defence Force players who struggled early with the heavy under-foot condition began to settle. They dominated possession in the early stages until the equaliser came nine minutes after.
Moore, a work-horse for the army coast-guard combination team all night, stormed through the middle of the park before slipping the ball inside for Kaihim Thomas, a former Rangers player, to beat the onrushing Jabari Brice in the 24th minute for a 1-1 scoreline.
Army continued their relentless attacks on the Rangers’ goal area thereafter and in the 35th minute, they should have taken the lead. Moore receiving the ball unmarked inside the Rangers’ box, was hacked down by Leslie Joel Russell, forcing the referee to point to the penalty spot.
However, Sam, despite having Brice totally beaten, saw his kick crash against the upright before bouncing to safety.
The teams went to the half-time interval with the scores knotted at one apiece, however, Sam came to the rescue.
Thomas was the beneficiary of a loose ball on top of the Rangers’ box from an earlier left-side attack. However, his shot instead trickled inside of a crowded area for Sam to steer the ball past Brice for a 2-1 lead in the 57th minute.
A minute later, Sam added another for his second item of the game and his team’s third goal, when he rose unchallenged to head home Sadoo’s pin-point cross from the left side for a 3-1 scoreline. By then, the match seemed to have been sewn up by the rampant Army men before a last-ditch fight put the La Horquetta men back into the game.
Substitute Attaulah Guerra was brought down on top of the Defence Force goal area in the 68th minute, and from the free-kick, Charles curled his attempt onto the crossbar before Russell Jr pounced on the rebound to reduce the score to 3-2.
The equaliser came six minutes from the end. Jules Lee charged down a shot by Guerra forcing the referee to point to the penalty spot, where Charles made no mistake by sending Biggette the wrong way.
The goal forced the game into extra time but instead of a recovery, the Army sealed the win courtesy of two goals from Sam in the 12th minute, and then from Moore to seal the win and their second title on the stroke of extra time.
After the match Army coach Hutson Charles said he was elated with the win as it was what they had set about to achieve. Rangers coach Dave Quamina said he too was satisfied with the performance of his team in spite of the result.
“If I had to do it again, we would do it. We came up against a quality team in Defence Force, they are the champs and they showed it tonight (Saturday). We still made them work though. We played a hundred-plus minutes. One of the main things tonight was the ground, it was slushy, and it had a lot of water. But besides that it had a good football match,” Quamina said.
