Derol Redhead raises high above the Ballstars defense to head home the opener from an Adrian St Hilaire free kick. Photo: Charlie Jackson/VINO

Maxford Pipe, pictured here blocking a Wakendel Laurent attempted equaliser, was a rock in the heart of the Sugar Boys defence. Photo: Charlie Jackson/VINO

Jario Morris sublimely lobs the ball past the advancing Maxcell Dabreo to score the Boys' second goal. Photo: Charlie Jackson/VINO

The opener came in the 10^th minute following a free kick, which was conceded by Nigel Chelemagne down the left flank and deep inside Ballstar territory. Adrian St Hilaire flighted over a perfect free kick which was met by Derol Redhead who rose above the defense to guide his header beyond the reach of Maxcell Dabreo and into the net.”It was a brilliant cross and deserved to be a goal” said Redhead “I timed my jump and was more competitive than the defenders so got my reward.”

In truth though, the Ballstars should have already been a goal or two to the good with Jhon Sammuel in particular wasteful with a couple of golden opportunities.

Sammuel had already found himself in trouble with the referee when he blocked a kick from the Boys’ keeper. Then Kevaughn Watson carved out a half chance for Mervin Dainty whose shot went wide, before Samuel saw a first time volley flash high and wide.

Clearing their defensive lines was a constant problem for the Sugar Boys as the next chance also came from an intercepted goal kick, Samuels again was unable to find the target with a snap volley.

Despite going a goal down, the Ballstars kept coming at the Boys and should have been on level terms when a Troy Cesar long throw in found Samuel unmarked in the box, but only able to direct his header wide. An Aggrey Henry free kick was then headed goal bound by Wakendel Laurent only for Stephen Damolinde to pull off a fine save.

The game now entered a sub plot between Maxford Pipe and Cesar to see who could hurl the ball further from throw-ins. The styles were slightly different with Cesar using a run up almost as long as the distance he gets, whilst Pipe uses body mechanics and long levers to propel the ball. The results too are different with Pipe’s greater accuracy giving him and his team more dangerous attacking options.

However, both teams over used the tactic and neither were able to create much, although from a Pipe throw Morris did get a header on target, but Dabreo made a comfortable save.

The throw in phase of the game ended with a more usual long ball game taking over from which both teams almost scored

A Decko Chiles clearance had Chelemagne scrambling to make a well timed clearance under pressure from both Wallace and Nickolas Iuso and at the other end Jamie Browne just failed to get a long ball from Laurent under control as he ran at the goal.

The crowd were brought to their feet (`or knees, depending who you support) when the Boys' Morris doubled the advantage with a delightful lob over the helpless Dabreo on 35 minutes.

A needless challenge, which conceded a free kick just inside the Boys half,  saw St Hilaire loft the ball forward,  where the unusually quiet Javon Wallace rose to flick the ball into the path of Morris, who made no mistake with a cool finish.

There was no further addition to the scores at the half time break, but shortly after the re-start Browne had a good chance to put the Ballstars on the score sheet following a free kick from Henry, but like so much in the first 45 minutes the effort was wide. Chelemagne hit a long range shot straight at the keeper after one of those long Cesar throw ins, but the best chance of what turned out to be a scoreless second half fell to Morris.

A flicked header from Redhead found its way to Wallace, who outstripped Alvin St Ville to cross into the box where Morris missed the target from just 8 yards out.

At the other end Laurent and Henry both saw chances go abegging with Laurent especially unlucky to hit the bar following good work from Shamoy Thompson cutting in from the left.

With neither team looking like scoring, the highlight of the half was a little “handbags at dawn” between Wallace and St Ville who both received their marching orders.

Afterwards the Sugar Boys Coach, Jeffrey Demming, was delighted that his tactics had paid off with the win “I have coached half the guys on the Ballstars team so we knew what strategy would work; we were in control throughout and out played them in every department.”

Maxford Pipe, who was a rock in the Sugar Boys defense, was quick to praise the Ballstars. “They have a lot of talent and I hope that the coach continues to work with them so they can mature quickly.”

Vincent Samuel was philosophical in defeat and noted that his team didn’t really fire, especially with some of the players not gelling as quickly as he would have hoped. “We were on the back foot and had to take the game to them, we changed the formation to try and create more chances. We had plenty of attempts on goal, but today was just one of those days for us.”

The second semi-final will be contested between Old Madrid and Islanders on Wednesday November 7, 2012 after Old Madrid beat Rebels 2-1 and the Islanders were awarded the game against Lucian Stars after they failed to show at game time.