By Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport EditorCL FINANCIAL San Juan Jabloteh emphasised their superiority over Jamaica National Premier League runners-up Arnett Gardens with a 3-1 victory in their return leg Caribbean Football Union Club Championship semi-final.
Last night's away success by the Trinidad and Tobago team at Tony Spaulding Sports Complex ensured a 6-2 aggregate as the visitors had won the opening tie by a similar margin in their country the previous Wednesday.
"It was a very good game tonight," said Ricky Hill, Jabloteh's coach. "Arnett Gardens gave us a very good test, all credit to their team. If they had taken some of their chances in the first half the outcome may have been different in this second leg."
Kerry Baptiste (39th), Trent Noel (46th) and substitute Nigel Pierre (67th) scored the goals which advanced Jabloteh to the final against fellow Trinidadians W-Connection.
The latter had beaten NPL champions Portmore United 1-0 in their two-game semi-final series last week in the east Caribbean republic.
Denton Shedden (44th) scored for Arnett Gardens.
SCORING CHANCES
Jerome Waite, whose Arnett team has been performing uncharasterically poor this season, called the performance their best in recent times because they made a lot of scoring chances.
"This is a much improved performance since the start of the Premier League. What we saw today is saying a lot for Arnett despite the opposition beating us 3-1.
"There were a lot of penetrative chances from midfield which created numerous opportunities," he said.
The match was fast-paced and both teams played open attacking football.
Given the first-leg scoreline, Jabloteh could have afforded themselves the luxury of a draw or a one-goal loss and be certain to qualify. However, they did not sit back and made the three best chances of the opening 20 minutes.
All came from the right flank where Arnett seemed most suspect, especially on the counter. Twice full back Josh Johynson played grounded passes behind the defence to let Cornell Glenn through, but he tried to slip the ball past goalie Allan Reid who proved equal to the task with diving saves.
Johnson drilled the other from a wide angle straight at Reid.
SQUANDERED CHANCES
Arnett came roaring back and inside the next 10 minutes, squandered a hat-trick of easy chances to tilt the pressure on Jabloteh. Free Ray Graham, at six yards, headed a cross from Shedden wide; Kwame Richardson set himself up by cutting inside two defenders to face a gaping goal but went for power, hit straight and Deurance Williams pushed over the top; then Richardson hit a brilliant cross-field pass behind the defence for Shedden who drove high past the far post.
One thing was obvious though, the goals would come.
Jabloteh got the important first one, not surprisingly off a right-sided square from Johnson. Arnett had numbers, but did not mark properly and Baptiste, free near the six-yard box, controlled, then placed a kick inside the far post.
Shedden replied five minutes later after Gregory Messam hit a far post square to Richardson, who turned back the ball in his path. He hit one-time into the roof from six yards to restore then homesters' hopes at 1-1.
A fightback seemed imminent but Jabloteh killed off any such dream Arnett and its handful of spectators harboured within seconds of the restart with a second goal.
"At crucial times we scored to take the game away from them, especially after halftime when the game was in the balance, all of a sudden we come out and score with our first attack in the first minute. That's bound to deflate anyone, it's gonna lift us and we're thankful to be in the next round," said Hill.
Arnett were caught napping on a free-kick and Noel unchallenged headed over Reid at his near post to score their second.
The arms and head of Arnett's players dropped. The body language told the story and Jabloteh, showing better understanding through the positioning of their players with and without the ball, stayed in control.
That did not prevent Arnett from making more chances though but the only scoring would come from the visitors who again thrived on the chasing habits of Arnett's defence.
Though numerically superior in a three-man raid, they left Pierre unmarked to take a pass off Aurtis Whitley and drill a powerful shot that could not be saved from the top of the penalty area just inside Reid's far post.
