Despite nursing a stubborn groin injury, midfielder Trent Noel netted a pair of goals to give Bmobile Joe Public a 2-0 win over FC SouthEnd on Saturday afternoon at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium in Match Day Seven action.
After being held goalless by SouthEnd in the opening period, Noel notched his first with a superb taken freekick on the hour mark and completed his double in injury time with a comfortably taken penalty.
Joe Public playing without injured forward Kerry Baptiste had a clear opening in the 51 st minute when Marcus Joseph head wide from substitute Hayden Tinto’s cross in what should have been comfortably guided on target.
And two minutes later Yu Hoshide was denied by Aquelius Sylvester after letting off a leftfooted strike after receiving an over the top pass away from the SouthEnd defence.
Hoshide had another crack on goal in the 55 th but his left strike was tipped wide before being cleared out for a corner by a SouthEnd defender.
Joe Public continued to dominate on creating opportunities and broke the deadlock on the hour mark when Trent Noel whipped in a freekick from outside the area to beat Sylvester on the right for a 1-0 advantage.
This shortly after Noel had a crack on goal hitting the side netting from the left side, but showed signs of fatigue from his groin injury that he has been nursing for the past three weeks.
Joe Public was denied a second item in the 72 nd minute when Sylvester pulled off a superb one handed save on utility player Carlyle Mitchell who was thrown into the forward position in absence of injured forward Kerry Baptiste for Saturday’s match.
Sylvester was made to work again two minutes from time pushing away Micah Lewis shot from the left, after the late Joe Public introduction showed some blistering pace down the flank.
Lewis then caused SouthEnd trouble again in added on time winning a penalty after a late challenge by Stefan Payne that sent him to ground.
Trent Noel took the responsibility and converted comfortably from the spot to beat Sylvester for a 2-0 Lions victory.
The Lions are fourth on the standings tied with 10 points along with North East Stars but ahead by goals difference and eight points away from leaders Defence Force, separated by Ma Pau SC(12 points) in second and W Connection(11 points) in third.
FC SouthEnd 0—2 Joe Public
; Trent Noel 60’, 90’+(pen)
FC SouthEnd—Aquelius Sylvester, Anthony Haynes (capt) (Yellow), Aubrey David, Dexter Alleyne (Yellow), Larry Bacchus, Eddison Smart, Dennis Burgess (Troy Moses 80th), Kennrick-Amare Ettienne (Stefan Payne 84th), Adarayll John, Kelvin Modeste, Joshua Bachan.
Technical Director—Anthony Rougier.
Joe Public—Marvin Phillip, Trent Noel (capt), Yu Hoshide (Micah Lewis 86th), Conrad Smith (Marcus Joseph 46th), Kenaz Williams (Hayden Tinto 46th), Jevon Morris, Kareem Moses, Nigel Daniel, Keion Goodridge, Kareem Young, Carlyle Mitchell.
Coach—Derek King.
Connection crush Police 4-0.
Police FC suffered its fourth straight defeat on Saturday at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium going under 4-0 against W Connection.
The match started with quick pace on either end, with Police forcing goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams off his line to punch when Andre Lynch whipped in a dangerous cross from the left.
But soon afterwards the match leaned to one side as Connection dominated possession and mounted numerous raids on the lawmen that absorbed as much as they could but conceded a total of four goals.
Andre Pacheco opened the scoring in the 18th minute when he smashed in a low leftfooted strike from outside the area after the ball dropped to him from a corner play to beat goalkeeper Adisa Noel for the 1-0 advantage.
Hughton Hector then secured a 2-0 cushion by the 23rd minute when he tested SouthEnd goalkeeper from the right with a looping effort which saw a desperate back-pedaling Noel only managing fingertips to see the ball drop into the back of the net.
Noel was made to make quite a number of saves, probably a personal record in a match, but couldn’t stop second half items by W Connection Colombian defender Eder Gilmar Aras and substitute Teba McKnight.
Aras made it 3-0 in the 60th minute and McKnight returning to Connection after a spell at Joe Public netted in the 90th minute to wrap up the 4-0 victory.
Connection sits third on the 2010 Digicel Pro League standings with 11 points, one behind second positioned Ma Pau SC and seven points from leaders Defence Force.
Meantime Police FC remains at the bottom, struggling with just one point from six matches with a 0:1:5 statistic.
W Connection 2—0 Police FC
Andrei Pacheco 18’, Hughton Hector 27’, Edar Gilmar Aras 60’, Teba McKnight 90’
W Connection—Jan Michael Williams, Elijah Joseph (capt), Eder Gilmar Aras, Nichcolson Thomas, Kern Cupid, Clyde Leon, Romauld Aguillera, Hughtun Hector, Andrei Pacheco, Matthew Bartholomew, Shahdon Winchester.
Coach—Stewart Charles Fevrier.
Police FC—Adisa Noel, Keron Clarke (capt), Akiba Peters (Yellow), Kyle Andrews, Anton Elliott, Kaaron Foster, Todd Ryan, Devon Lamy, Akeem Marshall, Keon Quow, Andre Lynch.
Coach—Anthony Marshall.
Tobago whips visiting Rangers 3-0
Tobago United jumped three spots up the 2010 Digicel Pro League standings into seventh after whipping visitors St. Ann's Rangers 3-0 at the Dwight Yorke Stadium on Saturday.
Second half goals by Raul Chapman (47th minute), Jamal Spencer (56th minute), Kevon Woodley (64th minute) stunned Rangers as the home side enjoyed its second victory of the season and are with 7 points in seventh with a 2:1:3 record.
Meanwhile, St. Ann's Rangers coach Anthony Streete was in surprise mode after going under 3-0 to Tobago United over the weekend at the Plymouth Recreation Ground.
"I was a bit surprised by Tobago's performance," said Streete. "Tobago took the game to us and really raised their standards while we had some bad spells."
Rangers conceded second half goals by Raul Chapman (47th minute), Jamal Spencer (56th minute) and Kevon Woodley (64th minute).
"I think we have some immature players and the senior ones didn't step into their game," explained the dissatisfied Rangers coach.
"Our players went into their shells under pressure. I think we lost possession a bit too easily in the middle of the field and our fitness is not where we need to be at the moment."
The Rangers coach went on to add, "For the past couple years playing at Plymouth has been a nightmare. If it's not the officiating, the supporters are too close to the field. I'm not making excuses, but it was a tough fight in Tobago with the ground conditions."
"I think preparation went wrong. We prepared to play at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, but the evening of the game we heard it was Plymouth Recreation Ground,” added a disgruntled Streete.
He believes that his side should have been in the top half of the 2010 Digicel Pro League championship following the Round One Match Day Seven Tobago clash, and not in the 8th position that they occupy with 6 points.
"I'm not pleased (with our current position)," he said. "We should have been fourth today after the Tobago match. We feel bad over the result, but after talking it over with the players they are all ready to put it behind them and prepare for our next match against W Connection.”