Joe Public and Jabloteh advance to Toyota Final

Joe Public, the 2007 champs, needed kicks-from-the-penalty-spot to oust Ma Pau 3-2, after a 1-1 regulation time score-line while, in the earlier contest, Jabloteh defeated last year’s runners-up St Ann’s Rangers 4-3.

The fans at Macoya turned up particularly to witness the Joe Public-Ma Pau matchup and, until the penalties, it was a closely-fought affair.

A defensive-minded approach, by both teams, hardly produced a shot on goal until the 43rd minute, when winger Micah Lewis made room for himself, at the edge of the Ma Pau penalty box, and forced a good save from goalkeeper Shane Mattis.

From the resultant corner from Gorean Highley, the Ma Pau defence failed to clear, and midfielder Yu Hoshide forced Mattis to tip his shot overbar.

Both teams were equally cautious in the second half, until the 63rd minute when Kerry Baptiste collected a poor clearance from defender Dwane James, spotted Hoshide who gave the ball to Hayden Tinto, but the midfielder had his right-footer tipped overbar by Mattis.

Two minutes later, Conrad Smith, the hero of Joe Public’s 2-1 win over Defence Force at the same venue on Tuesday night, could have scored with his first touch. The replacement for Baptiste got a ball from right-back Seon Power but directed his left-footer high. A pair of free-kicks ensured that penalty kicks will determine the outcome.

In the 77th, after a foul by Hoshide on striker Shandel Samuel, Ma Pau’s captain Lyndon Andrews bent his spot-kick, from the edge of the area, past the airborne Alejandro Figueroa.

Joe Public equalised from a similar-type freekick six minutes later, by Trent Noel, via Mattis’ right-post, after defender Carlyle Mitchell was pushed by Anthony Wolfe.

In the penalties, Noel and Wolfe scored for either team, but Mitchell and Hoshide had their efforts saved, while Ma Pau also suffered with misses by Curtis Gonzales (overbar) and Sayid Freitas (saved).

Smith and Samuel scored to make the scores 2-2 while Jean-Luc Rochford netted Joe Public’s fifth attempt, leaving Kerry Noray with the chance to keep the game alive.

But Figueroa pushed away Noray’s right-footer, past his right-post, to complete the comeback for Joe Public.

Noel Williams and Marvin Oliver netted a pair apiece as Jabloteh cruised past Rangers in the opening semi-final.

Williams put Jabloteh in front in the first minute, finishing a good run with a shot past goalkeeper Javan Seegobin, while Oliver got his name on the score-sheet in the eighth.

Rangers’ captain Devon Modeste pulled one back in the 15th minute, while Christon Thomas, who created Rangers’ first goal, could have tied up the scores in the 41st, but his right-footed shot, from the edge of the penalty area, was tipped by Jabloteh’s goalie Cleon John against the crossbar.

Oliver restored Jabloteh’s two-goal lead in the 45th, collecting a pass from midfielder Attulah Guerra and slipping a left-footer between the legs of the advancing Seegobin.

A similar move resulted in Jabloteh’s fourth goal, seven minutes into the second half, with Guerra sending a through ball to Williams who calmly tucked his right-footer beyond the Rangers keeper.

It needed a few minutes of second-half stoppage time for Rangers to move up a gear, and play a few attacking moves – which resulted in a pair of goals from close range.

Modeste was literally ushered into the penalty box by the Jabloteh defence before he fed substitute Ronald Musgrave who tapped home his right-footer past goalie Cleon John and, moments later, the Rangers’ skipper, again on the left, ran past defender Joel Russell and squared to Josimar Belgrave who sent his shot to the right of John.