The final spots in the Barbados Football Association Champions Cup semifinal lineup have been locked in, after a weekend of high-stakes quarterfinal action that delivered dramatic late goals, extra time drama, and a tense penalty shootout. Both surviving winning coaches have echoed the same message: their squads still have room to grow ahead of the next round of the competition.
Sunday’s opening quarterfinal at the Wildey Technical Centre delivered a thrilling comeback, as Brittons Hill United overturned an early deficit to claim a 2-1 extra time win over UWI Blackbirds. Teon Codagan put UWI in front just before halftime in the 38th minute, holding the lead until Corey Hoyte found the equalizer for Brittons Hill in the 65th minute. With both sides unable to break the deadlock through regulation, the match stretched into extra time, where Hoyte clinched the victory for his side with a dramatic 117th-minute winner.
Brittons Hill notched a fourth-place finish in last season’s Champions Cup, and head coach Richard Forde made clear the squad’s target is to outperform that result this campaign. “It was a struggle with these boys today, but I keep telling them that we can’t improve and we can’t execute under pressure if we don’t put the work in at practice. We’re still pulling everything together, and this is something the whole group is working really hard on,” Forde said after the match.
In the late evening quarterfinal, defending champions Weymouth Wales delivered a dominant 3-0 shutout victory over Eyre’s Meat Shop Pride of Gall Hill, to book their own semifinal spot. Mario Williams got the defending champions on the board first, before Armando Lashey, the league’s all-time leading goal scorer, added two late goals to seal the win. Even with the comfortable three-goal margin, head coach Asquith Howell said his side has not hit its full stride yet, identifying finishing as a key area for improvement ahead of the next round.
“I think our attack looked sharper today than it has in previous outings, but we still need to convert more of the chances we create. That’s been our weak spot so far this tournament,” Howell explained. “We created plenty of clear opportunities today, and you can see we’re building solid attacking momentum, we just need to clean up our finishing in the final third.”
The first two quarterfinal matches kicked off on Saturday at the same Wildey venue, with Paradise edging Pro Shottas 1-0 thanks to a late 87th-minute match-winner from Sheran Hoyte. The day’s second quarterfinal was decided by penalties after a 1-1 draw through full time between Mavericks and Ivy Rovers. Deondre Brown put Mavericks ahead in the 23rd minute, before Jarad Maxius equalized from the penalty spot for Ivy Rovers just before halftime in the 43rd minute.
Neither side could find a winner in extra time, sending the clash to a penalty shootout, where Mavericks emerged with a 5-4 win on penalties. The hero of the shootout for Mavericks was Kaliq Lashley, the national Under-17 goalkeeper, who notched the only save from either side to send his team through to the final four.