PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Luckless San Juan Jabloteh missed out on automatic qualification for the CONCACAF Champions League when they crashed to a 1-0 defeat to the Dominican Republic’s Cibao FC, in the final of the Caribbean Football Union Club Championship here Sunday night.
Defender Richard Dabas struck the decisive blow in the 31st minute at the Hasely Crawford Stadium when he got the better of goalkeeper Javon Sample after the Jabloteh defense struggled to clear their lines following a corner.
Cibao, a club in only their third year of existence, will now make their maiden foray into the prestigious Champions League at the expense of former CFU Club champions, Jabloteh.
The Trinidadian outfit would have been warned after watching Cibao FC stun two-time reigning champions Central FC, last week but still failed to come to grips with the Spanish side. After finding themselves down 1-0 at the break, Jabloteh pushed hard on resumption and thought they had equalized when Jamaican midfielder Keithy Simpson beat goalkeeper Juan Pablo Dominguez in the 48th minute.
However, the effort was waved off for off-side much to Jabloteh’s chagrin.
The hosts had earlier missed out on a golden opportunity to open the scoring in the first minute of the game when Nathan Lewis failed to beat Dominguez with his header.
Dominguez once again proved his value when he saved from Jairo Lombardo with half-hour left in the contest, to preserve the scoreline for Cibao.
In the third place playoff, Jamaican outfit Portmore United defeated Central 5-3 on penalties after scores were locked 2-2 following regular and extra time.
