ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Trinidad and Tobago edged Martinique on penalties in a dramatic semi-final to book their spot in Sunday’s final of the CFU Caribbean Cup.
Trailing 0-1 following Kevin Parsemain’s 75 minute strike, the Trinidadians equalised in the final minute of regulation through Richard Roy and then won an exciting penalty shoot out, to put themselves in line for their ninth regional title.
They will now meet Cuba who turned back Haiti 1-0 courtesy Yoel Colome Valencia’s early first half strike.
Playing at the Antigua Recreation Ground on Friday night, T&T and Martinique failed to find any spark in the first half to leave the score nil-all at the interval.
The game came alive after the break, however, after the introduction of the outstanding French duo of Kevin Parsemain and Frederic Piquionne who bizarrely started the game on the bench.
Their introduction in the 68th minute added a new dimension to Martinique’s game and they took the lead seven minutes afterward when Parsemain turned and left his marker for dead, before firing past goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams from inside the box.
The French side poured on the pressure and should have sealed the game but Parsemain’s deadly volley found the woodwork and Piquionne had a shot well saved by Williams.
With time running out of T&T, Kevin Molino conjured up a superb pass for Roy to finish off and send the game into extra time. Both teams were understandably cagey over the 30 minutes, forcing the contest to be decided by penalties.
Parsemain, Jacky Berdix, Sebastien Cretinoir and Steeve Gustan all scored but Piquionne had his effort saved.
T&T, meanwhile, kept their composure to find the target through Molino, Densil Theobald, Carlyle Mitchell, Daniel Herelle and Atullah Guerra, and reach their first Caribbean Cup final since 2007.
Cuba, meanwhile, grabbed an early lead through Valencia in the eighth minute when the defender poked home from close range after goalkeeper Jhony Placide failed to gather Marcel Hernandez’s initial shot cleanly.
The Spanish-speaking side then produced a sterling defensive performance to keep a rampaging Haiti at bay. The outstanding Leonel St. Preux was at the centre of almost every attack almost gave the Haitians parity on 40 minutes but he shot wide with only goalkeeper Odelin Molina to beat.
Cuba have now reached the final of the Caribbean Cup three times in the last 13 years but have never won a title.
