Jamaica’s King Conquers Trinidad & Tobago to Book Unity Cup Final
Reggae Boyz leave it late to seal success and extend their unbeaten run to five games
Richard King’s stoppage time penalty earned Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz a 3-2 triumph over Trinidad & Tobago in London on Tuesday.
The Unity Cup clash, the first since 2004, served up a five-goal thriller inside Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium.
Kasey Palmer dinked in his 25th-minute spot-kick and Rumarn Burrell marked his international debut with an spectacular strike after the turnaround to seemingly put Jamaica in control.
Yet Defence Force duo Isaiah Leacock and Kevin Molino soon squared matters for the Soca Warriors, only for Dwight Yorke’s side to concede a needless and costly penalty four minutes into injury time.
Supporters of the two Caribbean giants turned out in their droves, with the stadium full of Jamaican flags and their fans sporting the team’s golden jerseys.
The Boyz were all over the Soca Warriors like a rash in a one-sided opening half of the first Unity semi-final. But it took a mistimed tackle to hand Jamaica the initiative to edge ahead.
Palmer was given the opportunity to grab his first goal for Jamaica, after 37-year-old Jamal Jack clumsily caught the ankle of tricky Renaldo Cephas in the box.
A cheeky finish saw the attacking midfielder place his spot-kick into the centre of the gaping goalmouth after ‘keeper Marvin Phillips dived to his right.
And Palmer continued to cause all sorts of problems for his opponents early in the second-half. Phillips managed to save another Palmer effort, but the loose ball dropped for Burrell.
He capped his debut with a quick-witted close-range overhead kick to give the Boyz a deserved two-goal cushion on 54 minutes.
The Soca Warriors swiftly reduced the deficit, just 37 seconds after conceding, courtesy of a well-worked move that was polished off by Leacock on his maiden call-up.
Shotstopper Shaquan Davis only managed to parry Rio Cardines’ free-kick from outside the box. Trinidad & Tobago captain Molino was quickest to the ball, to head into an empty net and level the scores on 69 minutes.
With the Boyz having been severely under the cosh, Jamaica manager Steve McClaren immediately switched his two scorers for Ravel Morrison and Mount Pleasant forward Daniel Green.
Morrison should have restored the lead in his first foray up the pitch, after Cephas’ shot was saved and dropped at his feet. But a pair of defenders were so much sharper than the returning midfielder.
Phillips’ busy evening between the sticks continued. After brilliantly denying a 86th-minute header from substitute Gregory Leigh, in added time he brought down the lively Cephas.
King, who recently won his first Jamaica Premier League title as Cavalier captain after a 6-5 penalty triumph over Mount Pleasant, took on the responsibility of the spot-kick.
The 23-year-old stepped up and made no mistake to send the Boyz into Saturday’s Unity Cup final against either Ghana or Nigeria, for their second win over Yorke’s Soca Warriors this year.
Although Jamaica didn’t bring their big guns out for this encounter, this outing proved that there’s talent within the squad to extend their unbeaten run to five games.
JAMAICA: Davis – Bell, King, Holgate, Lembikisa – Palmer (Green, 70), Hayden, Russell – Cephas, Dixon (Leigh, 80), Burrell (Morrison, 70). Subs: Cover, Williams, Young, Chambers, McCalla, Ming.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: M.Phillips – Peters (Garcia, 78), Jack, A.Jones – Raymond, Powder, D.Phillips (Lee-Him, 67), Cardines – Molino (J.Jones, 78), Leacock (Moore, 67), Gilbert (Rochford, 78). Subs: Bateau, Muckette, Lee, Thomas, St. Hillaire, Williams, Hamilton.
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