Midfielder Trent Noel has been granted provisional clearance to play with Bmobile Joe Public despite continued efforts by United Petrotrin to keep the 32 year old player under their charge for the rest of the season.
The 2008 Toyota Player of the Year has been battling with United Petrotrin for half the season for a release since a pre-season fallout with Brazilian head coach Marcos Tinoco but only until last week the League granted Noel a provisional transfer of registration to join Joe Public for the remainder of the season.
On Saturday the former Jabloteh player played his first Digicel Pro League match in Joe Public’s 3-0 win against home team Tobago United at the Plymouth Recreation. The victory helped Joe Public back to the top of the standings with 28 points together with Caledonia AIA of Morvant Laventille but ahead by goals difference.
“Noel brings quality,” said Joe Public head coach Derek King. “He is a leader. He is a national player and he has joined our quality bunch of players. He had a very good game and he showed his leadership qualities in his first match on Saturday.”
Prior to joining Joe Public, Noel had been a ghost, only popping up as a spectator since joining United Petrotrin on a one year deal from San Juan Jabloteh after being overlooked for selection.
King was also delighted to announce youngsters Marcus Joseph from FC South End and Daneil Cyrus (T&T U-20) in his squad. Cyrus started in Saturday’s victory.
King believes that his team can hold on to win the Digicel Pro League with his mixture of youth and experience.
“We just have to continue winning. The Jablotehs and Connections have games in hand but I think we have points on the table to keep them off. My players know the task at hand is tough but we have a good bunch of players, most of which only came together this season...but have gelled quickly. We are going to take each game as a final from this point onwards,” ended the Lions coach.