MALABAR FC, recent winners of the Emerald Plaza and Apartments- sponsored Eastern Football Association (EFA) League Cup, advanced to the quarter-final round of the zone’s Cup competition with a convincing 3-1 win over Upper Santa Cruz in a first-round encounter.
Dorian Daniel netted twice for Malabar, in the 10th and 20th minutes, while Norrel George completed the scoring on the half-hour mark.
Neil Mitchell got the consolation item for Santa Cruz, in the 42nd.
FC Santa Rosa, the losing finalists in the League Cup, avenged their defeat to Malabar by trouncing Prisons SC 5-2.
Gerard Barnett was a one-man wrecking crew for Santa Rosa, scoring in the eighth, 33rd, 47th and 52nd. Ethan Robinson completed the carnage for Santa Rosa in the 88th while Marlon Lawrence got a pair for Prisons, in the 19th and 66th.
Tunapuna Titans overcame an early setback to defeat Pinto United 4-2. Theo Hosein (25th and 30th) scored twice, while Tosca Bartholomew (50th) and Andre Hoyte (89th) contributed one apiece for Tunapuna. Francis Riley (second) and Joachin Bastaldo (70th) were the goal-getters for Pinto.
Another convincing first-round winner was FC Maloney, who got a hat-trick from Nathan Lewis to blank La Horquetta SA 4-1.
After Keron James put La Horquetta ahead in the 20th minute, Maloney responded with Lewis’ treble (48th, 60th and 88th) while Keron Clarke sealed the comeback in the 70th.
Three games were determined from kicks via the penalty spot.
Boss FC and Joe Public ended with a 1-1 result at the end of regulation time, with Alfie James putting Joe Public in front in the 37th minute but Yahannah Scott equalised five minutes later. Boss FC prevailed 4-3 in the penalty shootout.
Also battling to a 1-1 regulation time score were Valtrin United and WASA, with Dwight Crichlow netting for Valtrin in the 26th and Junior Spencer levelling the scores in the 41st. However, in the penalty shootout, WASA triumphed 5-4.
Carib eliminated Creek SCC 6-5 in sudden-death penalties, after the teams finished 2-2 at the end of regulation time. Creek held a 2-0 lead through Ezra Connor (20th and 50th) but Carib responded with items from Kenneth Rodriguez (66th) and Keron Thomas (75th).
And St John’s United got a 3-0 default victory, over La Horquetta XF 3-0. No date has been decided for the quarter-final stage, but the matches have been arranged — Tunapuna will meet Santa Rosa at Constantine Park in Macoya, St John’s United will host Malabar at St John’s Road in St Augustine, Boss will square off against Carib at Aranguez and WASA will entertain Maloney at the WASA Ground in St Joseph.
STANDINGS (First Division)
P W D L F A Pts
Boss FC 12 8 2 2 41 21 26
La Horquetta SA 12 7 3 2 39 22 24
Pinto United 12 5 3 4 26 19 18
Tunapuna Titans 12 5 2 5 27 21 17
Creek SCC 12 5 1 6 24 32 16
La Horquetta XF 12 4 2 6 23 28 14
Barataria Ball Players 12 1 1 10 6 41 4