Jabloteh Pro Bowl champions again.
By: Ian Prescott (Express).[/color]
It took a penalty shootout to finally bring the 2006 Courts Pro Bowl Final to life after defending champions CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh and Vibe CT 105 W Connection played out a 0-0 regulation time draw on Friday night at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella.
The earlier third-place playoff was also decided on penalties, 3-1 in favour of Neal & Massy Caledonia AIA, after they were held 2-2 by the Defence Force.
But in the main match, tight defences and blatant misses ensured that the grand final never quite reached thriller proportions, until the very end when good fortune swung sharply from one team to the next.
Having mastered Jabloteh 3-0 on penalties during the 2004 final, W Connection looked set for a repeat when converting their first two spot kicks. But, needing just one more to capture the 2006 title, the unlikely happened when their next four kickers-Brazilians Ronaldo Viana and Williams De Oliveira, St Lucian Elijah Joseph and T&T national under-23 striker Devon Mitchell-all missed.
Ronald Primus and Josh Johnson converted for Jabloteh and although midfielder Brent Rahim missed, the teams were level 2-2 after five kicks apiece.
In sudden-death, ex-Jabloteh player Devon Mitchell hit his shot over the bar, but veteran Peter Prosper stayed cool as ever to score and give the reigning champs a 3-2 penalty-kicks victory.
After a lack of clinical finishing all night, it was no surprise that the shootout took the same path.
Jabloteh's Kerry Baptiste had the first sniff of goal in the seventh minute in reguation, but put the ball over the W Connection crossbar after keeper Jan Michael Williams had spilled a clearance.
Half-hour later, Baptiste had an almost exact opportunity...and came up with the same result. It was not his night in front of goal.
Likewise, in the 33rd minute, the normally-clinical W Connection captain Earl Jean should have buried Michael Celestine's deceptive pass inside the penalty area, but had his low shot smothered by the body of Jabloteh custodian Daurance Williams.
Jabloteh had the better of the second half and looked set to score in the 54th through Johnson, who pulled down a crossball at the right edge of the penalty area. But, having eluded his marker, the speedy winger panicked and lofted the ball over the bar, under the challenge of the W. Connection goalie.
Later Andre Toussaint was free to have a clear run into Jabloteh's penalty area when picked out by a pin-point cross. But, the W Connection striker never made up his mind whether to hit first time or collect the ball. He ended up doing neither and lost possession. Such was the story of a game that never quite caught fire until the very end.
Teams —
SAN JUAN JABLOTEH:[/b] Daurance Williams; Keyeno Thomas, Ronald Primus, Nigel Daniel, Ian Gray; Trent Noel (Wendell Joseph 73rd), Brent Rahim, Josh Johnson, Akeil Guevara (Peter Prosper 60th), Kerry Baptiste (capt); Lester Peltier (Elton John 78th).
W CONNECTION: Jan-Michael Williams; Elijah Joseph, Christopher Harvey, Nickcolson Thomas, William Da Silva Oliveria; Clyde Leon, Michael Celestine (Devon Drayton 76th), Ronaldo Viana, Hughton Hector (Devon Mitchell 71st); Andre Toussaint, Earl Jean (capt).
IT'S celebration time after CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh won the Courts Pro Bowl for the second time in three years.
Coaches reactions from courts Pro-Bowl finals.
By: Joel Villafana.[/size]
San Juan Jabloteh were crowned the Pro Bowl champions for a second straight year running, as they some how managed to come back from a two goal deficit to sneak past W Connection 3 -2 in sudden death penalty kicks. The match played at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium marked the second time in two years that both teams have contested the finals.
Following the match, Jabloteh's coach Terry Fenwick said "It's fantastic to
retain the cup -- its one of the big competitions in the country now. It was
a very hard fought competition and to do it this year with the new additions to the Pro League -- we are actually glad to lift the cup again."
The English born coach also touched on the absence of his world cup bound players, Aurtis Whitley, Cyd Gray and Anthony Wolfe.
Fenwick said it was a big loss, but Jabloteh is about developing youngsters in Trinidad and Tobago, he said, "The youngsters stepped up to the plate and we are glad with the progress of our youngsters."
However, the sometimes controversial coach sounded a warning to the rest of the League. He said "There are still three competitions and the League title to go after and we would be pitching for everything -- I mean that! I think we've got terrific players coming through and the international players would be back from the world cup, so we are in good shape."
Fenwick's opposite number, Stuart Charles Fervier was a bit philosophical
about his team's defeat.
He said "W Connection would continue to work hard and continue to believe in ourselves, because we have not achieved what we have by luck; we've won 17 titles in 7 years and we are a very young club and sometimes people forget that because of what we have achieved."
Speaking directly on the match, the St. Lucian born coach said, "On the
night even though Jabloteh played well, I thought we actually played better and we have only ourselves to blame for losing, even if we did not win it in normal play, we should have won it on penalties; some of the guys made some very unusual mistakes."
Mr Fervier also paid tribute to San Juan Jabloteh's goalkeeper Durance
Williams for his key saves in the match. However, he also noted that some of his players changed their kicks from their normal way of kicking which was very unusual. For his heroics Jabloteh's goalkeeper Daurance Williams was named the Most Valuable Player of the competition.
