Athletico in Sweet 16 semis

Athletico FC players celebrate after beating Dream Team to reach the last four of the Sweet Sixteen Football League in Sangre Grande.
Athletico FC players celebrate after beating Dream Team to reach the last four of the Sweet Sixteen Football League in Sangre Grande.

Athletico held off Dream Team 2-1 on Saturday to advance to the semi-finals of the Sweet Sixteen Football League at the Ojoe Road Recreation Ground, Sangre Grande.

Athletico, who finished second in Group A on goal difference, came out firing from the opening whistle and pressured their opposition's defence. Dream Team, in comparison, looked like they were still sleeping but were forced to wake up when Gerald Meloney fired in the opening goal for Athletico. Dream Team were struggling to string together passes and were lucky to go into the halftime break only down a goal.

But it was a complete turnaround for the second half with one-way traffic heading to the Athletico goal.

Dream Team winger Keron Kahn looked a real threat down the left flank but lacked support in the penalty area. Khan almost turned provider with a surging run past two defenders but no one was there to take advantage of his teasing pass across the face of goal.

Dream Team skipper Kern Diaz tried to inspire his team with his dead-ball deliveries and found the head of forward Patrick Parris, whose near post run from a corner was not picked up, but his flick-on looped just over the bar.

With Athletico's defence under tremendous strain and an equaliser looking inevitable, somehow Athletico made it 2-0.

A rare string of passes in the midfield saw Athletico skipper Simeone Auguste unleash a low speculative shot that took its time before reaching the goal. But Dream Team goalkeeper "Life" fell over the ball like he was dead as the ball rolled into the net to the dismay of their supporters.

With elimination looming, Dream Team poured forward for a goal and pulled one back through a moment of brilliance from Khan. The ball was quickly switched from the right flank to the left where Khan, with the outside of his left foot, lashed a perfect one-time strike that swerved into the far corner past the diving Athletico goalie.

It should have been 2-2 soon after when Parris was played through on goal, with a pass over the top, but he hesitated when he should have shot and the defence collapsed on him to snuff out the danger.

Diaz, looking to do it himself, made a jinking run into the Athletico penalty area and squared the ball to Parris on the penalty spot, who backheeled to a teammate and the shot was blocked.

With time running out, Dream Team had one final chance to equalise but the shot was blazed over the bar after a free-kick from Keryl "Gino" Garcia was not cleared by the Athletico defence.

In the earlier match, Group A winners Guaya United booked their spot in the last four with a 1-0 win over Dragon FC. Jody Allsop was the goalscorer for Guaya.

Last night the other quarter-finals were held with Boys Town against Trincity Nationals and Matura FC versus Take That and Cool It. The semi-finals will be held on Thursday and the final on Saturday.

Teams are playing for a $50,000 first prize. The second place team will get $15,000 and third place receives $7,000.

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"Athletico in Sweet 16 semis"

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