Paul Young - FILE
paramaribo, suriname, cmc
PORTMORE UNITED COACH Paul Young has praised his team for rebounding from a first-leg defeat to win the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Champions Cup title at the Andre Kamperveen Stadium on Sunday night.
Portmore thumped home team SV Robinhood 4-0 and will face Mexico's Club América in the two-way CONCACAF Champions' Cup quarter-final series on February 22 (Mexico) and March 8 (Jamaica) for a place in the semi-finals in late March.
ELATED
"I am elated at reaching this far and although it is going to be tough facing Club America (in Mexico), the job is not beyond this team," Young told CMC Sport.
"They (Portmore's players) are talented and we just need to play at our best and be very smart against the Mexicans," he added.
Beaten 2-1 in the first leg on Friday night, Portmore quickly evened the tie - with an Omar Daley goal - in the 15th minute and then pumped in three unanswered goals in the second half to sink the Suriname home side.
Kemeel Wolfe, Craig Morrison, and Steve Morrisey got the decisive second-half goals as Portmore won the tie 5-2 on aggregate.
They advance to next year's CONCACAF champions Cup as the second consecutive Jamaican club to land the CFU title, after Harbour View last year.
Young was thrilled with the result even though he thought his side played better in defeat two nights earlier.
"The difference tonight was that we scored our chances," Young told CMC Sport Sunday night.
"We played better on Friday night but we just did not score. Anyway, the players knew what they had to do in this game and they put on a very spirited performance from the start to the final whistle," Young said.
The Jamaica international Daley gave visiting Portmore the early boost they needed when he connected with a firm shot into the top far corner.
The former England-based professional - with Reading and Preston North End - engaged national youth player Morrisey in a combination of passes before hitting his accurate shot past the local goalkeeper.
The scoreline remained the same - 2-2 on aggregate - until the halftime break but Portmore took control with two quick strikes soon after the restart.
Wolfe headed in a corner in the 50th minute and Morrison increased the advantage for Portmore five minutes later.
From another corner, Adrian Reid headed the ball on for Morrison to kick into the net in the 55th minute.
FINE WIN
The 19-year-old Morrisey then sealed the fine win when he collected a long clearance from his team's defensive zone, rushed forward against a struggling defence and placed a superb 35-yard shot beyond the reach of the goalkeeper to secure the championship title for the Jamaicans.
Portmore, eliminated another Dutch Antilles side SV Centro Deportivo Barber (3-2) in the semis.
PORTMORE UNITED FC - Dwayner Dyer, Anthony Modeste, Tyrone Sawyers, Ryan Powell, Adrian Reid, Omar Daley, Jason Morrison, Kemeel Wolfe (Rafe Wolfe-69th), Steven Morrissey (O'Neil McDonald-80th), Ricardo Cousins (Orane Miller-76th), Craig Morrison.
Do
you have a problem? Is something bothering
you? Write to 
