Young striker Shaniel Thomas registered a second hat-trick of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup, as he combined with Jalmaro Calvin to hand Jamaica's Cavalier FC a 5-2 win over host Golden Lion in their Group A curtain-call contest at the Stade Pierre-Aliker in Fort-de-France, Martinique, on Wednesday.
Thomas, who earlier in the tournament became the youngest and first player to score a hat-trick when he achieved the feat against Dominican Republic's Moca FC last month, again proved too good in the final third for his French-speaking rivals on this occasion, and now has a Caribbean Cup-leading seven goals in four games. His combination with Calvin also ensured the Rudolph Speid-coached side topped the group on their way to the semi-final.
Cavalier could not have asked for a better start, as they quickly grabbed a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute, when Calvin's cross from the right wing took a wicked deflection off the foot of Golden Lion's defender Marvin Bellance, leaving goalkeeper Alan Rose wrong-footed, as the ball rippled the net.
Calvin continued to be a nuisance on the right flank and made a big impact again in the 14th minute with a dashing run that ended with a strong right-footed finish for a 2-0 lead.
The nippy Calvin added another notch to his first half belt with an assist on a Thomas goal in the 34th. In that build up, Calvin shook markers on the right channel before cutting back to Thomas, who swept in a shot past Rose to put Cavalier 3-0 up.
Thomas was once again at the right place at the right time in the 37th when an under-hit back pass allowed him to swoop in and score for a 4-0 Cavalier lead.
The Calvin-Thomas combination continued to wreak havoc on Golden Lion, who had no response to their onslaught. Calvin again played provider for Thomas, who applied another powerful finish in first half stoppage time, to put the Jamaicans 5-0 up at the break.
Golden Lion came out with a renewed purpose on the resumption and pulled one back in the 51st minute, through a Thierry Catherine header.
They added another in the 71st, courtesy of Wilfrid Charloton’s finish inside the area, but in the end the spoils and first-place finish in the group belonged to Cavalier.