Barbican dump Cavalier out of Flow Champions Cup
SUBSTITUTE Steve Broderick scored in the ninth minute of the first period of extra time to send Barbican FC into the second round of the Flow Champions Cup Knockout football competition after yesterday’s 3-2 win over Cavalier SC at the University of the West Indies, Mona Bowl.
Earlier, the hosts Barbican were edging to a 2-1 win in the dying embers of regulation time through a strike from Kemar Thomas in the 17th minute and an own goal in the 50th minute.
But Girvon Brown, who scored his first in the 71st minute, completed a double in the third minute of stoppage time to push the KO game against their Kingston & St Andrew Football Association rivals into 30 minutes of extra time.
Rudolph Speid, the head coach of Cavalier, said a “comedy of errors” and “missed chances” led to his team going behind 0-2 early in the second half. He argued that it was always a “difficult task” thereafter, despite acknowledging that the late equalising goal should have given his team the edge in momentum going into the extra period.
An openly relieved Barbican coach Junior Francis, who was frantically urging his Barbican players in the tense final moments of the encounter, said it was “a hard game against a fit Cavalier team”. He praised his team for showing “a little more fighting spirit” over the course of the match.
After Barbican had taken a two-goal lead, Cavalier dominated much of the second half, but failed to pull back a goal until Brown struck in clinical fashion.
He expertly took Liston James’ cross on his chest and slotted home neatly as defenders belatedly tried to close him down.
The visitors kept pressing for another goal as the game wore on and they deservedly got the equaliser with literally the last kick in normal time. The Barbican goalkeeper Ashek Taylor was the guilty player as he went for a cross and missed, leaving the lurking Brown to side foot into an empty goal.
The referee blew the whistle, signalling the end of the 90 minutes as soon as Barbican resumed play.
But any thought that Barbican would be demoralised after conceding late was soon put to bed when Broderick capitalised on lax Cavalier defending and slammed home a left-footer in the 99th minute.
