Soca Warriors defender Aubrey David got the lone goal as title-holder Neal & Massy Caledonia AIA continued the defence of it T&T Football Federation FA Trophy crown with a hard fought 1-0 win over Joe Public (Eastern Football Association) at the Maracas Recreation Ground on Wednesday night.
David, one of five members of the Caledonia squad who helped T&T to a second place finish at the just concluded Caribbean Cup in St John’s, Antigua on Sunday, losing 1-0 to Cuba in the final, fired in the decisive item in the 75th minute in their round-of-16 encounter to secure a quarterfinal clash with giant killers Stokely Vale when the tournament resumes on January 9.
For Wednesday’s encounter, Caledonia coach Jerry Moe opted not to use his other T&T internationals in Densil Theobald, Ataullah Guerra, Keyon Edwards and Jamal Gay and that decision against a defensive minded Joe Public almost cost his team.
However, Defence Force, beaten by Caledonia in the FA final, 2-1 crashed out of this year’s tournament after going under to Stokely Vale of the Super League, 2-1 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
Defence Force, currently top of the Digicel T&T Pro League table also had the option of using its returning national quartet of Devorn Jorsling, Kevon Carter, Richard Roy and Curtis Gonzales for the tricky test with Stokely Valet which stunned T&T Pro League’s St Ann’s Rangers, 3-2 in the previous round and also dumped Police and Caledonia, its next oppoent from the Toyota Classic tourney last month.
But the “Teteron Boys” coach, Ross Russell only used Jorsling from the start and the tactic backfired as Rundell Winchester fired the Tobagonians ahead as early as the second-minute while Dominic Mc Dougall made it 2-0 for the underdogs in the 52nd minute before Jorsling pulled a goal back five minutes later.
Both Carter and Roy were then introduced soon after but Stokely Vale held firm to register another big win this season and move into the last-eight of the prestigious tournament where it will face a familiar foe in Caledonia.
Another major upset took place at the La Brea Recreation Ground, where natioanl Under-20 goalkeeper and Secondary Schools Football League “Player of the Year”, Kwesi Weston scored a hat-trick and then saved two penalty kicks to earn South Zone SSFL Coca-Cola Inter-Col champions, Shiva Boys Hindu College, a 3-0 penalty-kicks triumph over OJ Soldado All Satsr after a 3-3 draw in regulation-time.
In Wednesday’s two other late matches, Gary Glasgow and Neil Mitchell were on target as former winners’ North East Stars blanked 1st FC Santa Rosa, 2-0 in the second match of a double-header at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva while Central FC came from behind to edge Police 2-1 in the first match.
In the three early matches on Wednesday, Bevon Bass scored a second-half brace as T&TEC whipped Enterprise Youths 3-1 while Cunupia FC, champions of the CFA Premier Division and Southern Football Association Petrotrin Super League Premier Division winners Pt Fortin Civic Centre, also advanced, 3-2 and 2-0 over Mathura FC and Joe Public (Super League) respectively.
Wednesday’s T&TFF FA round-of-16 results:
T&TEC 3 (Bevon Bass 57th, 87th, Kern Peters 7th) vs Enterprise Youths 1 (Ryan Frederick 20th)
Pt Fortin Civic Centre 2 (Marcus Joseph 77th, Stephen Joseph 90th pen) vs Joe Public (Super League) 0
Cunupia FC 3 (Akeil James 5th, Jamal Spencer 45th, Anthony Noel 49th) vs Mathura FC 2 (Kiesh Charles 9th, Kendall Nathaniel 23rd)
North East Stars 2 (Gary Glasgow, Neil Mitchell) vs 1st FC Santa Rosa 0
Shiva Boys (Kwesi Weston 3) vs OJ Soldado All Stars 3 (Amari Ettienne, Linsie Sherwood, Dennis Burgess)
- Shiva won 3-0 on penalty kicks
Stokely Vale 2 (Rundell Winchester 2nd, Dominic Mc Dougall 52nd) vs Defence Force 1 (Devorn Jorsling 57th)
Central FC 2 (Anthony Wolfe 51st, Darryl Trim 62nd) vs Police 1 (Kareem Perry 15th)
Caledonia AIA 1 (Aubrey David 75th) vs Joe Public (EFA) 0
Quaterfinals fixtures - January 9, 2013
Caledonia AIA vs Stokely Vale
Cunupia vs North East Stars
Central FC vs Shiva Boys Hindu College
Pt Fortin Civic Centre vs T&TEC