Mackeson Brittons Hill and OKG Rendezvous, by virtue of 1-0 semi-final victories over Ellerton and Pride of Gall Hill, respectively, will clash in the KFC Champions Cup final on Sunday.
Playing at the Wildey Football AstroTurf, Brittons Hill advanced to their second straight knockout final through an own goal by Ellerton as sweeper Shane Codrington deflected a shot from Omar Archer past his goalkeeper Kevin Barton in the 51st minute.
That goal in Sunday’s first semi-final was a bitter pill for Ellerton to swallow as they not only squandered a number of goal-scoring opportunities, but had a goal by Romario Watson controversially disallowed.
Watson himself twice missed one-on-one chances with Brittons Hill’s reserve goalkeeper Tennyson Mings, who was pressed into service after regular custodian Rashan Ince was unable to play as he couldn’t locate his identification card.
With Ellerton desperately searching for the equalizer, Watson also shot wide after penetrating the Brittons Hill defence.
After the match, Brittons Hill’s coach Fabian Wharton said he wasn’t surprised by the performance from their Division One opponents. But he wasn’t entirely happy with his team’s display even though they won.
“I actually expected Ellerton to play really well,” he said. “They are a very youthful little side and they move the ball very quickly. If you are not very careful and play too flat against them, you will get punished.
“Some days you have a bad day at the office and you get the result, some days you have a good day at the office and you don’t get the result that you are looking for, so this is one of those days,” he added.
In the second semi-final, Vincentian Myron Samuel got the winner for Rendezvous in the 39th minute.
Samuel ran on to a weighted pass from his compatriot Norel George on the right side of the penalty area.
He cleverly shook off the challenge of Andre Daniel and confidently placed the ball away from goalkeeper Omari Eastmond and into the far corner.
Despite the victory by a solitary goal, unlike some of their lopsided victories in the earlier rounds, Rendezvous’ president Paul Maynard was pleased with the result.
“As we go on, we know the games are going to get tougher. Gall Hill is a good team, you can’t deny that, but we played them to the strength of our game, which is to just play compact and hit them on the break,” he said.
“I don’t think they were capable of scoring against us because they didn’t have any chances in the first half. They only put on pressure in the first ten minutes of the first half and then later in the game.”
Before that, Romano Snagg, playing wide on the left flank, came close to scoring when he beat Eastmond with a shot which was cleared on the line at the far post by Nero.
Snagg also forced Eastmond to bring off a timely save at his near post but at the other end, Gall Hill seemed timid in attack.
They were guilty of turning back with the ball on most occasions when they got past the halfway line while it appeared a couple of players were more interested in showboating with some of the Rendezvous players, rather than doing their assigned tasks.
Young strikers Shaquille Boyce and Jabarry Chandler were almost shut out of the game by Rendezvous’ experienced central defenders Wayne Sobers and Floyd Bailey, while Ryan “Shaky” Griffith had an awful match, constantly slipping and losing ball possession.
Still, Gall Hill had a few chances to equalize during an improved second-half display.
Rendezvous’ goalkeeper Kerry Holder brought off a brilliant save to block a powerful shot from Chandler which took a slight deflection, while a fierce free-kick by Gall Hill’s captain Rico “Sas” Baptiste skidded along the turf, a few inches from the right post.
At the other end, Rendezvous should’ve put the match beyond Gall Hill but an unmarked Snagg, at far post, headed a cross from George wide.
