The Reggae Boyz' Luton Shelton evades the challenge of Guadeloupe's Gregory Gendrey during their Digicel Caribbean Championship semi-final match at the National Stadium last night. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

JAMAICA AND Grenada will meet in Sunday's final of the Digicel Caribbean Championship after contrasting semi-final victories at the National Stadium last night.

In the opener, Grenada pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of Caribbean football when they defeated Cuba 6-5 on penalties after a 2-2 regulation and extra time draw.

They next face hosts Jamaica, who defeated Guadeloupe in the second semi 2-0, thanks to goals from Oneil Thompson (11th) and Luton Shelton (57th) (see full report in tomorrow's Gleaner).

The Grenadians, who are ranked 139th in the world, rallied from a 2-1 deficit deep in the second half to force extra time, and at the end of the shoot-out, qualified for the final on kicks from captain/coach Anthony Modeste, Shane Rennie, Marc Marshall, Ricky Charles, Gassim Langaigne and Junior Williams from the spot.

Jaine Colone and Reysandry Fernandez were the players to miss for Cuba, who are ranked 73rd on the FIFA list.

"It was very, very hard fought victory and hats off to the Cuban team. They gave it their all. We are very happy for the victory," said Modeste, who plies his trade with Digicel Premier League champions Portmore United.

"We took the lead and then fell behind, but the guys never hung their heads and we fought hard to the end. We were rather confident going into the penalty kicks as, after they missed their third penalty, I knew we were going to do well. Our goalkeeper promised that he was going to save two penalties and he did."

After a tit-for-tat start to the game, Grenada took the lead in the 12th minute when Charles converted from the spot. This lead, however, did not last long as two minutes later Cuba, through Joel Colone, pulled level. The men from the northern Caribbean then made it 2-1 in the 33rd minute when Robert Ninares netted, and it was not until the 80th minute that Grenada pulled level.

In what was clearly the best goal of the match, Grenada's top link midfielder, Keithson Bain, who sports dreadlocks, collected a ball midway in the Cuban half and, after weaving his way past five defenders, released a thunder of a shot which ricocheted off a defended before nestling in the net. Recognising that penalties may be their best bet, Grenada then defended stoutly until the final whistle, before holding their nerves in the dreaded shoot-out.