It is a repeat of the 2011 final. Defending champions Joe Public will meet Tobago's Stokely Vale in the final of the 2012 blink/bmobile National Super League Knock-out final.
Joe Public beat Stokely Vale 2-1 in the 2011 final, and also edged the same opponents for the league title last season.
On Sunday, Joe Public's path to the final was not as hard as it appeared, while Stokely Vale's wasn't as straight forward as the score suggested.
Joe Public won 6-5 on penalty kicks over league leaders Westside Superstarz. The teams drew 1-1 in regulation time. Meanwhile, Stokely Vale won their semi-final 2-0 over FC Santa Rosa.
Two well-taken goals from Stokely Vale striker Tyronne Manning gave the Tobago team victory over FC Santa Rosa, for whom coach Keith Look Loy was sent from the bench by match officials.
The game was awful.
Even with National Under-23 captain Duane Muckette, and former T&TEC man Vurlon Mills in their squad, Santa Rosa never got going and only managed a goalless first half through former Tobago United and Caledonia AIA goalkeeper Andrew Durant, who made two good saves.
Stokely Vale played equally poorly, and when sent clear by a through ball, it was no surprise when Manning muffed the chance by hitting a low shot onto the goalkeeper's body.
At least the goalscoring improved later on.
Manning expertly put the Tobago team ahead in the 71st minute when he volleyed a flicked-on header to the far corner of the net. And from a quick counter attack, Rohan Sebro brought a curling cross into the penalty area from the right, and Manning used his body to guide the ball into the net in the 81st minute.
The second semi-final was contested between the Super League's top two teams this season and was of a high standard.
Joe Public dominated the first half and could have been much further ahead than the 1-0 margin, before Troy Thompson equalised for Starz five minutes into the second half.
The "Eastern Lions" were quickly into stride. Immediately from the touch off, the ball was punted into the penalty area where Rashad Griffith was taken out by desperately onrushing Starz keeper Stefan Berkeley, as the attacker collected the ball on his chest and was about to shoot.
Three minutes into match, capable Joe Public centre back Jamel Lewis stepped up and converted the penalty, following a long break in which Griffith was given medical attention.
Their confidence up, Joe Public imposed their physical presence on Starz, a team containing many former North Zone and St Anthony's College players, and coached by St Anthony's coach Nigel Grosvenor.
Griffith should have given Joe Public a second goal, but he headed Jamal Lewis' precise free-kick marginally over the bar. The right back Alfie James twice overlapped with dangerous intention for Joe Public and found Ricardo Bennett, who turned over another glaring chance at the back post.
Another James cross was met by striker Ellis Dyett, who headed off target from an cute angle.
Prevented from playing the neat football for which Grosvenor is known, Starz took some 40 minutes to settle. Eventually, former St Mary's College play-maker Jack Weedon and company got going, leading to Thompson's equaliser.
BLINK/BMOBILE NATIONAL SUPER LEAGUE KNOCKOUT RESULTS
Semi-finals
F.C. Santa Rosa 0 v Stokely Vale F.C. 2 (Tyronne Manning – 71st & 81st)
Joe Public F.C. 1 (Jamal Lewis – penalty 3rd) v Westside Superstarzs F.C.1 (Troy Thompson – 50th)
*Joe Public won 6-5 via kicks from the penalty mark
Joe Public to meet WASA in Super League final.
By ANDREW GIOANNETTI (Guardian).
Defending champion bmobile Joe Public advanced to the final of the blink/bmobile National Super League (NSL) Knock-out competition, with a 6-5 sudden-death penalty-kick win over a formidable Westside Superstarz, on Sunday.
Joe Public won from the spot after the second match of a double-header at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, ended in a 1-1 stalemate after 90 minutes, with both teams finishing with 10 men.
Tobago club Stokely Vale also sealed a final berth after dropping newly-promoted 1st FC Santa Rosa 2-0 in the opener, with a double from the team’s top scorer Tyronne Manning.
In the highly-anticipated and intense encounter between Joe Public, the league’s second place team and Westside which currently sits third, it was the reigning triple-crown winner Joe Public, which got off to the perfect start with a third minute item from Jamal Lewis from the penalty spot.
Joe Public pressed for an early lead and were rewarded when Rashad Griffith was toppled over by Westside keeper Stefan Berkeley and Lewis converted. Despite pressure, Joe Public held on to the slender lead into half time.
However, less than five minutes into the restart, Westside, which lost 5-1 on the opening day of the season to the same opposition, found an equaliser through a Troy Thompson shot from the penalty spot.
The penalty was also awarded when Joe Public’s stopper Jevon Bourne brought down Kareem Freitas in the penalty area, after the midfielder had skipped past the custodian. In the run of play, Joe Public had Devon King sent off for picking up a second yellow card in the 58th minute, to pile pressure on the champions.
However, the match then went the full distance without either side making another breakthrough, but right before the final whistle, former St Mary’s College stand-out Jack Weedon also had his team reduced to 10 men for a second bookable offence in injury time.
On penalty kicks, both teams slotted home their five allotted efforts, before Westside’s David Lendore had the team’s sixth penalty saved by Bourne. Donovan Derrick then stepped up and scored to give Joe Public a consecutive spot in the final.
Commenting after the match Joe Public coach Dale Saunders, who took up duties at the club at the start of the successful 2011 season, expressed satisfaction.
“We should have won it in 90 minutes, however. After going down a man, we remained playing as if we were with 11 men, and we ought to have finished the match off,” said the former national midfielder.
Westside coach Nigel Grosvenor, meanwhile said despite the loss of a number of first team players to professional clubs, the team did well.
“I told the guys that we still have something to be proud about... holding the champions to a 1-1 draw into penalties. Losing so many players doesn’t make the task any easier, but we have to look at the bigger picture.”
Westside have improved dramatically from its seventh placed finish last season, with Grosvenor, who is also the coach of last year’s SSFL “invincibles” and current league leader St Anthony’s College.
Westside has lost just two matches this season, to Joe Public and WASA, and sits comfortably in third. Joe Public will have eyes set on another treble, while Westside realistically has sights on the league title, which it can attain with 12 matches remaining, given its fine form (with the exception of the loss to WASA in the last league match) continues.
The final will be played on Sunday with at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, at 5 pm. All other teams in the league will have an extra week’s rest.
Results
Stokely Vale 2 (Tyronne Manning 71st, 81st) v FC Santa Rosa 0
Joe Public FC 1 (Jamal Lewis 3rd) v Westside Superstarz 1 (Troy Thompson 50th)
- Joe Public won 6-5 on penalty kicks.
WASA FC 4 (Fabian Garcia 48th, Ethan Robinson 50th, Michael-Lee Celestine 85th, Jahhan Hernandez 89th) v 1976 FC Phoenix 2 (Darren Mitchell 25th, 83rd)
Eagles United 1 (Jamal Antoine 69th) v Defence Force 0
Sunday Fixtures
KO Final- Stokely Vale v Joe Public, Dwight Yorke Stadium, 5 pm