TTEC, Caledonia book place in final

TTEC will meet Caledonia AIA in the October 14 Final at the aforementioned Mucurapo venue, after Caledonia earned a come-from-behind 2-1 win over San Juan Jabloteh.

In the penalty shootout, Connection, who were first at the spot, saw captain Hughton Hector (first kick), Mikeil Williams (second) and Rennie Britto (fourth) convert their efforts, while Joevin Jones’ effort was saved by Akini Adams, diving to his right.

On the flip side, Connection’s goalkeeper Aquelius Sylvester moved to his right to deny Corneal Thomas (second kick), but TTEC had successful kicks from Romauld Aguillera (first), Anthony Noreiga (third) and Sylvester Teesdale (fourth).

Connection’s fifth kicker, Jerrel Britto, saw his right-footer saved by Adams, diving to his left, and Kelvin Modeste wrong-footed Sylvester to complete the upset victory for TTEC.

Jerrel Britto, who netted the equaliser for Connection, was inconsolable at the end, while their opponents were noticeably grateful to their noisy band of supporters for their success.

Connection’s striker Shahdon Winchester had the first sniff at goal, after 10 minutes, as he received a through ball from Andre Quashie but his right footer was held on the second attempt by Akini Adams.

But Aguillera, who moved from Connection during the off-season, put TTEC in front in the 20th, exchanging passes with Teesdale before placing his right-footer beyond Sylvester’s reach.

TTEC went on the defensive and it paid dividends for 50 minutes, before Jerrel Britto restored parity with a left-footed angled shot past Adams after Winchester met a long ball on the left from Williams.

Neil Benjamin had a pair of opportunities to put Connection in front, blasting inches wide of the mark after a weak clearance from Noreiga, and forcing a wonderful save from Adams after he tracked down a low cross from Hector.

Andrei Pacheco, another person who moved from Connection this year, had the best chance of a winner, banging his left-footed freekick against the uprights in the 90th minute, with Sylvester well beaten.

The earlier game saw two-time champs Jabloteh eliminated by a second-half rally from AIA forward Jamal Gay.

Jabloteh’s captain Marvin Oliver broke the deadlock in the 34th minute, placing his penalty to the right of goalkeeper Kevin Graham.

Jabloteh had a fine opportunity to extend their lead only 15 seconds into the second half, as their forward Willis Plaza shrugged off a challenge from central defender Atiba Charles but drilled his right-footer against the uprights.

That error proved costly two minutes later, when Gay was on hand to tap home from inside the six-yard box.

And Gay, an off-season acquisition from Caledonia after a short-term stint in the German leagues, notched the winner in the 64th, shielding off his marker Sheldon Bateau and hitting a low right-footer to the left of goalie Cleon John.

Jabloteh had a few chances to evened up the scores, but the closest they came was in the 75th, as Jason Marcano forced a good save from Graham with a long-range blast from 25 metres out.