Pro League leaders CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh (16) maintained their lead atop the standings after a 2-1 victory yesterday over opponents Arima Fire at Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar.
The win came in handy as second-placed Vibe CT W Connection (14) kept on the pressure with a hard-fought 3-2 win over South West Institute of Football at Palo Seco Recreation Ground.
In fact, Jabloteh’s eventual triumph turned out to be harder than initially thought after the Bourg Mulatresse side saw their early domination nearly neutralised by a strong-finishing Fire team.
Things were going according to the odds book in the first period when Jabloteh, with their high-set defence and pressure-on-the-ball approach, disoriented captain Uz Taylor’s Arima side to such an extent that opposing keeper and skipper Kelvin Jack was rendered a mere spectator for most of that half.
Seemingly clueless on how to counter-attack the tactics of coach Ricky Hill’s side, Fire only saw the ball out of their half of the field when keeper Perry Martin benefited from a goal kick when the defence were clearing helter-skelter or when Ansil Elcock failed to collect from fellow defender Ian Gray.
Other than on those occasions, Jabloteh, after a not-so-neat opening ten minutes, took siege of their counterparts from the East with their passing game in the midfield, engineered by the crafty Otis Seaton.
The industrious Kerry Noray should have opened Jabloteh’s account after 27 minutes when a disorganised Fire defence mistimed their offside move, allowing the diminutive striker to beat the advancing Martin before he hit not as powerfully as he would have liked towards goal. Only a desperate lunge from Darryl James denied him. But there was no denying fellow attacker Cornell Glen.
With the repeated defending and lack of ball possession taking a toll on their backline, Fire conceded a free kick 25 metres out on the right side of the penalty box that Glenn struck with rasping accuracy past a sprawling Martin after 33 minutes. That they did not concede a next goal before the interval was an achievement.
But coach Floyd Windsor changed strategy effectively.
He showed his counterpart Hill a mirror, using the same advanced attacking positions and committing more men to attack, so giving more support to strikers Sean Christmas and Brent Antoine.
It meant more regular forays for the Fire team. But when Noray thumped home from a flick-on from teammate Devon Mitchell in the 73rd, Fire needed goals to get back in the game.
Antoine did not take long to respond, just three minutes later he put Arima back in the hunt with a clinical collect and shoot effort--that flew into Jack’s far post--from a long ball over the Jabloteh defence.
A tiring Jabloteh side then saw the tables reversed as substitute Adrian Narine had Jack scampering to save his long-range effort on target as Jabloteh stopper Ian Gray and company retreated further than they did for the entire match. But as they were finding a groove, time ran out on Fire’s resurgence.
W Connection, on the other hand, was saved by an 85th minute goal from skipper Earl Jean after newcomers South West Institute of Football stormed back twice on the Palo Seco Recreation ground. W Connection had to rely on profilic goal-getter Jean to pull out of trouble against SWIF. The “Savonetta Boys” opened the scoring in the fifth minute when a SWIF defender headed the ball past his goalkeeper Andy Dean.
Holly Lewis headed in a corner to level the score two minutes before the interval. Then, George Isaac, the Kittian playing his first season for W Connection, netted his fifth goal of the season when he beat Dean with a right-footer into the far post in the 57th minute.
Fifteen minutes later, former Defence Force player Curte Fermin equalised once again for SWIF. Jean got the match-winner in the 85th minute when he booted a right-footed shot past Dean, following a through-pass from Arnold Dwarika.
Defence Force made up ground by moving from eighth place to fourth in the standings with a 3-1 victory over Starworld Strikers at Manny Ramjohn Stadium. Joe Public squandered numerous scoring opportunities against debutants Tobago United to force a 1-1 draw at Marvin Lee Stadium. In the only other match, Caledonia AIA and North East Stars battled 1-1 at Ato Boldon Stadium.
Senior Division.
Jabloteh 2 (Cornell Glenn 33rd, Kerry Noray 73rd) vs Arima Fire 1 (Brent Antoine 76th).
W Connection 3 (o.g., George Isaacs 57th, Earl Jean 85th) vs SWIF 2 (Holly Lewis 43rd, Curte Fermin 72nd).
Caledonia AIA 1 (Nigel Hart) vs North East Stars 1 (Randolph Jerome).
Starworld Strikers 1 (Kestor Cornwall 26th) vs Defence Force 3 (Russell Pope 6th, Sherman Phillip 60th, Kwesi Smith 88th).
Joe Public 1 (Andre Toussaint) vs Tobago United 1 (Jason Sampson 22nd).
U-20 Division.
Caledonia AIA 2 (Hyron Browne-Baptiste, Keon Edwards) vs North East Stars 0.
Starworld Strikers 3 vs Defence Force 1.
Arima Fire 0 vs Jabloteh 2 (Ijamar Mark, Andre Alexis).
Joe Public 6 vs Tobago United 0.
SWIF 1 (Anslem Paul 48th) vs W Connection 3 (Jason Marcano 65th, 88th, Devon Daniel 10th).