Defending champions St George South produced arguably the comeback of the tournament to date after scoring twice in a minute to force extra time and subsequently prevail on penalties against St John, when the final night of the round of 16 action in the David Thompson Memorial Constituency Councils Football Classic was played at Belleplaine on Saturday night.
The holders eventually triumphed 3-0 on penalties, after the scores had been locked at 3-3 following normal time and neither could be separated after an extra half-hour.
Goals from Deago Gittens, Romario “Pete Pete” Harewood and Akeen Rouse had given St John what looked like an unassailable lead going into the final three minutes, with St George South’s sole reply coming from Romario Drakes.
Dario “Ears” Harewood and Romario Watson had other ideas however, as they contrived to score within 60 seconds of each other to haul the defending champions from the jaws of elimination.
Meanwhile in the nightcap game, St Andrew valiantly defended their home patch and also booked their spot in the quarterfinals when they overcame a spirited St Michael South East 3-1 in front of a massive home crowd.
A Darico King brace, coupled with Jomo Harewood’s tournament leading seventh strike of the competition, proved more than enough for the willing but inexperienced St Michael side, whose only goal came from the boot of Rasheed Greaves.
Deago Gittens got St John off to the perfect start, after some good awareness on his part saw him follow in on an initial shot and ram home the rebound to give his side the lead as early as the 10th minute.
St George South rallied well however and were back on level terms in fine style within nine minutes. An end to end affair then ensued, as either side was fully prepared to take the attack to the other in search of the go ahead goal.
It was St John who eventually found it though, managing to get their noses in front for a second time after a piercing run and subsequent shot from midfield, allowed captain “Pete Pete” Harewood to slam home a blocked strike in the 42nd minute.
St John would have been much the happier outfit going into the final minutes despite those misses however, as they were leading 2-1 and were about to extend their advantage even further as Akeen Rouse swept home and score the goal which surely looked like sending St John through in the 87th minute.
St George South were not in the mood to relinquish their title so easily though and immediately bulldozed their way up the right before forcing a corner. Rosean Brathwaite, who was immense for the defending champions, raced over to take the set piece.
The midfielder then floated an inch perfect ball to the back post, where Dario “Ears” Harewood was on hand to rise and power a header into the ground and past Marco Howell to draw the holders within a goal in the 89th.
St John, visibly shaken after conceding, were then on the back foot, as St George South pressed hard for an equaliser. A leading ball down the left prompted a run from an obliging winger out wide. A low cross was then fizzed into the area which matched the late run of Romario Watson perfectly. Watson then sorted out his feet superbly well to side-foot home under pressure and send the travelling St George support into delirium with a last minute equaliser.
A fruitless extra time meant that a penalty shootout was required to see who would grab the penultimate quarterfinal spot on offer.
St John then had a shootout to forget, as Harewood, Rouse and Damian Husbands all failed to convert, leaving the door gaping open for the defending champions, who by that stage just needed Ramon Beckles to score after Watson and Ian Clarke had already dispatched their spot kicks.
Beckles then stepped up and duly delivered, slotting low to Howell’s right as calm as you like to fire his side into the final eight. (ML)