Holders Sparta Boss sealed their berth to the knockout round in the Ministry of Health/Petra Organization Soft Shoe Championship, edging Sophia 4-3 on Saturday at the Santos Training Area on the Square of the Revolution.
Needing to avoid defeat to seal their berth to the next round, Sparta Boss got off to the worst possible start as Shemroy Arthur gave Sophia the lead in the fourth minute with a left side strike which took a deflection, wrong footing the custodian and settling down the centre.
The champs equalised in the 14th minute in front or a large partisan crowd as Sheldon Shepherd scored, slotting home from the left side after a right side shot deflected into his path.
Sophia retook the lead three minutes later as Desmond Cottam netted, stealing the ball from defender on the left side before cutting into the centre of the field and unleashing a powerful strike into the top right hand corner.
The back and forth nature of the contest continued as Gregory Richardson netted in the 22nd minute to level the score, tapping home from the left side after racing onto a right side pass.
Richardson then made his presence felt once more, rifling a powerful strike from the centre into the lower left hand corner one minute later to give Sparta Boss the advantage.
However, Sophia refused to go down quietly, restoring parity to proceedings in the 27th minute as Dwayne Lowe redirected an initial strike from the centre into lower right corner from inside the box.
Nonetheless, the champions displayed their mental fortitude in the dying seconds as Eusi Phillips snatched the dramatic win, slotting into the empty net from the left side after playing a one-two pass combination following a counterattack.
In other results, Broad Street defeated Ministry of Health 4-1. Leon Richardson, Jimmy Gravesande, Devon Johnson and Jamal Cozier scored in the 18th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd minute respectively. On the score in the loss was Trevor Lewis in the third minute.
Meanwhile, Albouystown downed Young Ballers 5-0. Kemo Scott netted a hat-trick in the seventh, ninth and 12th minute while Roy Samuels and Lennox Cort scored in the fifth and 20th apiece.
On the other hand, West Front Road and Queen Street Tigerbay battled to a 4-4 stalemate. Jermin Junior recorded a double for West Front Road in the 16th and 22nd minutes while Nathaniel Nagaloo also scored twice in the ninth and 28th minute.
For Queen Street, Alpha Fletchman, Darren Harris and Omallo Williams scored in the third, 12th and 29th minutes while an own goal in the 13th minute added to the scoreline.
Similarly, Bent Street and Kitty Weavers battled to a scoreless draw while Alexander Village and Leopold Street played to a 0-0 result.
Final Points Standings
Group-A
Team GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
Channel-9-Warriors (Q) 3 2 1 0 7 3 +4 6
Campbellville (q) 3 1 1 1 7 8 -1 4
West Back Road 3 1 1 1 3 4 -1 4
Laing Avenue 3 0 1 2 5 7 -2 2
Group-B
Team GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
Kitty (Q) 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 7
Globe Yard (q) 3 2 1 0 7 7 0 6
Bent Street 3 0 1 2 4 5 -1 2
Cross Street 3 0 2 1 4 6 -2 1
Group-C
Team GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
Sophia (Q) 3 2 1 0 7 4 +3 6
Holmes St.Tigerbay (q) 3 2 1 0 6 4 +2 6
Sparta Boss (t) 3 2 1 0 8 7 +1 6
California Square 3 0 3 0 0 6 -6 0
Group-D
Team GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
Queen St. Tigerbay (Q) 3 2 0 1 8 4 +4 7
West Front Road (q) 3 1 0 2 11 6 +5 5
Broad Street (t) 3 1 1 1 6 5 +1 4
Ministry of Health 2 0 2 0 0 7 -7 0
Group-E
Team GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
North Ruimveldt (Q) 3 1 0 2 9 7 +2 5
Alexander Village (q) 3 1 0 2 6 4 +2 5
Leopold Street (t) 3 1 0 2 3 2 +1 5
Festival City 3 0 3 0 3 8 -5 0
Group-F
Team GP W L D GF GA GD Pts
Albouystown (Q) 3 1 0 2 10 5 +5 5
Tucville (q) 3 1 0 2 8 5 +3 5
North E/La Penitence (t) 3 1 0 2 6 4 +2 5
Young Ballers 3 0 3 0 2 12 -10 0
Key
(Q)-Group Winner
(q)-Group Runner-up
(t)-Third Place Qualifier
