A nerve-wrecking penalty shootout was needed for North East Stars to book their spot in their first ever First Citizens Bank Final.
The Sangre Grande based team managed to come away 3-2 winners in a frantic penalty shootout over San Fernando Starworld Strikers in their First Citizens Cup semi final match at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella.
The first match of the semi-final double header ended 1-1 at the end of full time after North East’s Kevin Jeffrey and Starworld’s Jason Charles netted on each side of the half.
The ‘Sangre Grande boys’ seemed most interested in the finals when they controlled most of the first half and took the early lead.
Striker Jeffrey, returning to North East Stars this season, started in place of regular starter Shandell Samuel and he was on target as early as the 12th minute.
It was from a pass by Howard Lowe who worked his way past two defenders and chipped the ball over to Jeffery, who had easy pickings when he netted the opening goal giving the ‘Stars’ a 1-0 lead.
The game continued to look all North East and out of the ‘San Fernando boys’ reach when captain Marc Borde was finding difficulty in combining more than three passes with his charges.
The Everald ‘Gally’ Cummings coached team continued to have the better buildups and some promising attempts failed to find the back of the net with shots from skipper Charles Pollard, Kayode Mc Kinnon, Oneke Forde and more from Kevin Jeffrey.
Starworld’s Jason Charles came close in the 39th minute when he sprung into the air to meet an Andre Charles corner, but he headed just over the top.
The teams took to their dressing rooms at half time with North East holding the advantage.
The San Fernando team had to deal with the exit of their captain Marc Borde after he succumbed to an injury in the second period, after being involved in a clash with North East striker Oneke Forde.
The Michael Maurice coached team returned in the second half determined to draw level.
It took Starworld little time to get in the groove, when Jason Charles did well to collect and control, but placed his effort over the bar in the 47th minute.
However, Jason got in the mix again and did well to meet Andre Charles’ free kick and headed it past goal keeper Shane Mattis in the 53rd minute to level the score at 1-1.
The ‘Sando boys’ continued to work feverishly, pressuring North East’s defence.
In the 58th minute North East defender Akeno Morgan made a bad pass giving the ball to speedy Jamal Ayres who cracked a demon of a shot from the left side across the face of the goal making the fans hold on to their heads.
Substitute Marc Leslie had two close tries, one in the 65th minute when he shot just over bar from 23 yards out and the other in the 73rd minute when he received a pass from hard working Jesse Martinez and had the North East fans jumping to their feet only to see the shot clip the upright and out of play.
Starworld then counter attacked with Nigel Hart in that same minute and had a low shot well saved by diving keeper Mattis.
In the final minute of play striker Jeffrey did well to turn on two Starworld defenders and shot a breath away from the upright.
It was the sound of referee Piper’s whistle that signaled full time and showed the players to the penalty spot, to decide who will progress to the finals of the First Citizens Cup Penalties taken --
STARWORLD STRIKERS v NORTH EAST STARS
G - Andre Charles X - Kayode Mc Kinnon
G - Errol Charles X - Howard Lowe
X - Ghmyo Harper G - Vernon Bailey
X - Lindsie Sherwood G - Kendall Velox
X - Nigel Hart G - Akeno Morgan
Five of the ten players saw their shots miss the mark and North East came out the eventual winners 3-2, after Starworld had a comfortable 2-0 lead in the shootout with Andre Charles and Errol Charles converting their spot kicks—but it all went wrong for Mike Maurice and his men afterwards—as North East converted their next three tries. The boys from Grande would now face W Connection in the final on Friday 29th at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella.
Teams
Starworld Strikers – Marvin Phillip; Errol Charles, Dexter Franklyn, Jamal Ayres, Marlon Stoute; Andre Charles, Ghymo Harper, Marc Borde (capt) (Kester Cornwall 46th), Stanley Iyiaka (Randolph Jerome 46th); Jason Charles (Lindsie Sherwood 85th), Nigel Hart.
Coach – Michael Maurice
North East Stars – Shane Mattis; Charles Pollard (capt), Vernon Bailey, Akeno Morgan, Walter Moore; Kayode McKinnon, Howard Lowe, Kendall Velox, Jesse Martinez; Kevin Jeffrey, Oneke Ford (Marc Leslie 60th).
Technical Advisor – Everald Cummings
Match Referee – Richard Piper
STARWORLD STRIKERS v NORTH EAST STARS
1 GOALS 1
4 YELLOW CARDS 2
0 RED CARDS 0
3 SHOTS ON TARGET 4
17 FOULS 15
3 CORNERS 4
4 OFFSIDES 4
2 PENALTIES 3