Joe Public whip Police FC 2-0.
Some fans are thinking that Joe Public FC need another lethal striker besides Kerry Baptiste now that pacy Guyanese Gregory Richardson and Jamaican Roen Nelson have departed these shores.
But Baptiste, top-scorer to date in the 2009 Digicel Pro League, added his tenth goal in six league matches this season when scoring in the 21st minute of Tuesday's Pro League match against Police FC on their home turf at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya.
And Gorian Highley, a second half substitute, added another in the 64th to see the Eastern Lions to a comfortable 2-0 victory, which moved them to third (11 points) in the standings behind defending champions San Juan Jabloteh (17 points) and Caledonia AIA of Morvant-Laventille (13 pts).
In other games on Tuesday, Jabloteh edged FC South End 1-0 at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella, while Caledonia got the better of Tobago United 5-3 at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, where Keyon Edwards notched a hat-trick for the winners.
In the early game at Marabella, United Petrotrin upset W.Connection 1-0, while at Malabar, St Ann's Rangers beat Defence Force 2-0.
At Macoya, if Joe Public's Colombian goalkeeper Alejandro Figueroa was being paid by saves made, he would not have earned a cent until the final minute when Police finally tested him.
First, substitute Christopher Sam forced the Colombian to turn away a rasping shot from 20 metres out and when the ball was turned back to goal, Figueroa was well-beaten but defender Carlyle Mitchell stopped the ball by using his hands.
Mitchell was shown a red card and Police won a 90th minute penalty which Sam took, but Figueroa stopped the shot by diving low to his left.
Joe Public had earlier made the running against a Police team whose midfield did not perform, but whose defenders put in some brutal tackles and picked up several yellow cards.
Police goalie Anthony Marshall tried offering a gift to the home team when spilling a low cross, but no Joe Public player seemed interested. A minute later, though, Baptiste gratefully accepted a Conrad Smith cross at the back post, hitting a right foot volley and giving his team a 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, Conrad Smith was beating the ground in frustration after failing to score from four yards, then Baptiste did not look quite as confident on his left foot in the 31st minute when meeting Jason Springer's cross in the centre of the six-yard box. Unlike his scoring effort, Baptiste opted to control the ball, allowing central defender Devon Bristol to poke the ball away.
Joe Public continued to trouble the Policemen and eventually the predominantly left-footed Highley dribbled in the box and drilled a low left footer past keeper Marshall to give his team a 2-0 lead.
Baptise almost got another goal in the 73rd when working a combination with midfielder Akeil Guevara and hitting a hard, low shot which Marshall kept out brilliantly with his feet.
Finally, when the match was almost finished, Police decided to put some effort into the game, but it was too little, too late.
Sam scores in Jabloteh win.
By: Joel Bailey (T&T Newsday).
Former Trinidad and Tobago striker Hector Sam netted in the 72nd minute as San Juan Jabloteh defeated FC South End 1-0 on Tuesday night to maintain their four-point lead atop the points table in the Digicel Pro League.
That match was the second of back-to-back meetings at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella, with Sam, who was a half-time substitute for Cyrano Glen, hitting a loose ball past South End’s goalkeeper Aquelius Sylvester after the defence failed to clear the keeper’s earlier save from Jason Marcano.
The earlier match at Marabella was a heated affair as United Petrotrin edged Lucozade Sport Goal Shield finalists W Connection 1-0, with another evergreen striker Gary Glasgow heading Jamal Clarence’s left- sided cross past goalie Marvin Phillip.
Connection, for the second game in the space of four days, finished a match at Marabella with nine players and, on the heels of their ill- tempered Goal Shield semifinal win over Jabloteh, featured in another hotly-contested affair.
Petrotrin’s coach Marcos Tinoco was sent into the stands by referee Neal Brizan at half-time for offensive language. The Brazilian-born coach repeatedly protested calls made by Brizan.
The Connection technical staff had their share of displeasure towards the officials in the second half and their mood did not help with the dismissals of Colombian-born central defender Eder Gilmar Arias in the 85th (his second caution) and the temperamental Phillip in stoppage time.
Kerry Baptiste pushed his goal-scoring tally this season to 10 goals, netting in the 21st minute as Joe Public whipped Police 2-0 at the Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya; Gorian Highley completed the win in the 64th.
The biggest shock of the day occurred at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, Arima, as Superstar Rangers ended their two-game streak of 6- 0 losses with a deserved 2-0 win over the other Lucozade Shield finalist Defence Force. Rangers’ captain Errol McFarlane forced a reflex save from Kevin Graham in the second minute while, in the 24th, national forward Devon Jorsling, with only the keeper to beat, failed to get a touch to a neat cross from the right by Ronald St Louis.
Stephan Morris broke the deadlock three minutes later, getting between Graham and defender Keston Williams to poke home a ball from the right by Devon Modeste.
Jerwyn Balthazar, on the left, got a diagonal ball from Kerry Joseph but was denied, at point-blank range, by keeper Javan Seegobin before McFarlane, playing in his regular striker position, doubled the lead in the 36th, with a delightful turn on his marker Rawle Fletcher and a powerful right-footer past Graham.
In the second half, a determined challenge from Seegobin denied Balthazar, who was played on goal by St Louis, while the keeper did well to tip a low bending freekick from Jorsling wide for a corner.
Caledonia remained in second spot — a week after their demolition of Rangers, they returned to Arima to defeat Tobago United 5-3, with Keyon Edwards again registering a hat-trick.
Edwards got things going in the fourth minute, and doubled his team’s score in the 11th, tapping into the open net after goalie Richard Reynolds made a mess of Walter Moore’s header from Abdallah Phillips’ cross.
Another shocking error from Reynolds, who failed to meet a Phillips’ cross, saw forward Kendall Velox collect the loose ball, ahead of defender Akeno Morgan, and slot the ball home in the 29th minute.
Caledonia lost ex-national midfielder Densil Theobald in the 33rd minute due to an injured left leg, from a tough challenge by Kayode McKinnon, and they suffered another setback when burly forward Reginald Payne got Tobago’s first item in the 45th, hitting past his fellow Vincentian Dwayne Sandy after a pass from Carey Harris.
Two minutes after failing to finish from a Keon Daniel pass, Edwards completed his treble in the 56th minute, skipping past Morgan and poking his right-footed shot through Reynolds’ legs.
McKinnon reduced the deficit to 4-2 in the 61st minute, hitting a low 20- metre freekick home, via the right-post, before another Vincentian, the 38-year-old Velox, diverted Akim Armstrong’s right-sided shot past the stranded Reynolds six minutes later.
In the 71st, Payne placed home from close range after a pass by Harris, but Caledonia spurned two late opportunities to record another six-goal tally.
Once again, Reynolds came out of his box and failed to clear (a pass to Daniel by substitute Kerwin Jemmott) and Daniel collected the ball, saw a vacant net, but embarrassingly sent his left-footer wide. And Phillip received a pass from Armstrong but could only watch in agony as his curling right-footer struck the uprights.
TUESDAY'S T&T PRO LEAGUE RESULTS:
Joe Public FC 2 (Kerry Baptiste 21; Gorian Highly 64) v Police FC 0
W Connection 0 v United Petrotrin 1 (Gary Glasgow 21)
FC South End 0 v San Juan Jabloteh 1 (Hector Sam 72)
Caledonia AIA 5 (Keyon Edwards 4, 10, 55; Kendall Velox 29, 67) v Tobago United 3 (Reginald Payne 45, 71, Kayode McKinnon 61)
Defence Force 0 v St Ann's Rangers 2 (Stephan Morris 27; Errol McFarlane 36)