By JOEL BAILEY Thursday, November 5 2009

STRIKER Conrad Smith scored a late double as Joe Public rallied to an inspired and nail-biting 2-1 win over Defence Force at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya in Tuesday’s quarter-final stage of the Toyota Classic competition.

The 28-year-old Smith, who has a five-goal tally over a chequered 18-match international career, has been consigned to the Joe Public bench during his first season, since transferring from Caledonia AIA earlier this year.

But Smith proved to all and sundry that he is still worth his salt as he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat for his team, who struggled to break down their opponents for the majority of the encounter.

Jerwyn Balthazar rose above the defence to head home a right-sided corner from Devon Jorsling, in the fourth minute, to put Defence Force ahead.

But Hayden Tinto could have levelled the scores in the 25th, but he dragged his right-footer wide of Kevin Graham’s right-post, following a low freekick by Trent Noel.

The veteran Noel was at the heart of a promising move by Joe Public two minutes later – after dispossessing midfielder Anton Joseph, Noel picked out his captain Kerry Baptiste to his left. The striker’s initial chance (which was poorly controlled) was thwarted by Graham but Baptiste pounced on the rebound and fed Gorean Highley who sent his left-footer sky-high.Jorsling failed to put Defence Force 2-0 ahead at half-time, as he missed the mark with his left-footer after good work on the right-flank by Kerry Joseph, while, in first-half stoppage time, Baptiste got a cross by Highley but sent his right-footed lob overbar.

Baptiste was well-patrolled by the Defence Force defence, but he could have tied the scores in the 47th, however he headed Seon Power’s right-sided cross wide; while Noel’s curling freekick, on the right, narrowly went overbar in the 51st.

Nine minutes later, Noel led a counter-attack and released a goal-bound Highley, but Graham did well to produce a right-handed save.

In the 62nd, Defence Force’s striker Kevon Carter, to his surprise, allowed Anton Joseph’s left-sided cross to hit his head and sail overbar, with only goalkeeper Alejandro Figueroa to beat.

Defence Force started to dictate terms, and possession, to such an extent that Joe Public were forced to make three quick substitutions, including Baptiste (replaced by Micah Lewis) and Tinto (replaced by Smith).

But Defence Force, all of a sudden, allowed complacency to creep into their game and resorted to a number of fouls and bad passes. Those lapses in concentration proved fatal as Smith, out of the blue, collected a pass from Noel on the left, turned on his marker Dexter Pacheco, skipped past Balthazar and defender Rawle Fletcher and drilled a right-footed bullet to the right of Graham.

With the seconds ticking away, Highley gave Smith a pass on the right flank and the forward evaded Anton Joseph and sent his left-footer goal-bound. Smith, and the entire Joe Public team, erupted in elation as the ball deflected off Graham’s outstretched right-boot and trickled over the goal-line.

The joy was too much to handle for the team’s technical staff, as coach Derek King and his assistant Ralph “Arab” Nelson rushed onto the field to celebrate, while Smith, who was later booked by referee Gregory Gouveia for removing his shirt, suffered a cut above his left eye by his jubilant team-mates.

From the subsequent kick-off, Gouveia signalled the end of the match ushering the 2007 champs into the last four of the tournament.In the double-header at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella, the first two winners of the Toyota Classic, W Connection (2005) and United Petrotrin (2006) were eliminated by Ma Pau and reigning champs San Juan Jabloteh respectively.

Striker Trevin Caesar notched a 54th minute goal as Ma Pau ousted Connection 1-0 while Jabloteh needed kicks-from-the-penalty spot to knock out an unimpressive Petrotrin outfit 3-2, after a goalless score-line at the end of regulation time.

The only dramatic period in the match was the penalty shootout, with veteran Gary Glasgow, who needed to score to keep Petrotrin in the match, hitting his shot wide.

Brazilian Luis Lima and the evergreen Nigel Pierre scored for Petrotrin while Stephan Campbell and captain Makan Hislop saw their efforts blocked by keeper Cleon John.

Even though Petrotrin’s goalie Glenroy Samuel denied Noel Williams’ try, Jabloteh prevailed courtesy successful kicks from Attulah Guerra, Josh Johnson and Cyrano Glen.

The last semi-finalist was determined last evening, with last year’s runners-up St Ann’s Rangers due to battle 1976 FC Phoenix (the lone bmobile National Super League team remaining in the contest) at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.

The semi-finals will take place tomorrow while the final is scheduled for November 13.