W Connection jumped to third spot in the Digicel Pro League with a 6-0 whipping of FC South End on Saturday night at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.
Youngsters Joevin Jones and Shahdon Winchester both notched a brace for W Connection, while Andrei Pacheco and Silvio Spann each added to the Savonetta Boys' tally.
Also on the night, San Juan Jabloteh's chances of finishing in the top three took a blow when they played to a 1-1 draw against North East Stars in the late match at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar.
Jerrol Britto scored in the 25th minute to give "Stars" the lead, before Akeil Guevara took it away in the second half with a 73rd minute strike.
Jabloteh are now on 23 points, five behind Connection and fourth-placed Joe Public, who both have 28 points.
With only three rounds of matches left, Jabloteh have to hope Joe Public drop points and they win all their matches to sneak into the top three.
Before Jabloteh and Stars met, Police rescued a 1-1 draw with St Ann's Rangers in a battle at the lower end of the Pro League table, also at Malabar.
In the other match of the night, Kaaron Foster made sure the lawmen left the Malabar Stadium on even keel with a strike in the 85th minute, after second half substitute Kaashif Thomas put Rangers ahead in the 73rd minute against the run of play.
The first half did little to encourage the smattering of supporters at the "Larry Gomes", with Police piling on the pressure, but throwing away simple chances.
The match did not really flow either, with a ping-pong type display by the two teams.
First, Sayid Freitas booted his early free kick way over and captain Noel Williams, with just Rangers goalie Valcourt Fortunato to beat, found the wrong side of the far post from a great shooting position.
Williams muffed another close chance, thumping the rebound from a Fortunato save way over.
At the other end, Rangers' best chance of the half saw Keron Alexander slam the ball into the side netting.
Todd Ryan stung the palms of the Rangers 'keeper in the second half, while Freitas had their best non-scoring chance, a close-range header he put wide.
Foster could have given Police the lead in the 73rd, but he was slow in getting to a great ball provided by Neil Marcano.
Rangers released the pressure from a counter attack in the 73rd, with Thomas being picked out with a wonderful through ball, and he held it as long as possible before chipping the advancing Anthony Marshall in the Police goal. After what seemed an eternity, the ball hit net on the bounce.
But just when they thought they had stolen all the points, Rangers conceded through poor defending, as Foster was allowed enough time and space to have a shot from inside the penalty area.
Stars, Jabloteh battle to 1-1 draw.
By: Nigel Simon (Guardian).
Akeil Guevarra scored a 73rd minute item, as DirecTV North East Stars came from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw with San Juan Jabloteh in their Digicel Pro League clash, at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar on Saturday night.
This was in the feature match of a round 15 double-header, as a dress rehearsal for their T&T Football Federation FA Trophy final meeting later this month after both teams won their semifinal matches in midweek.
National Under-20 striker, Jerrol Britto had given Jabloteh a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute which it held until the 73rd minute when Guevarra drew Stars level to earn a share of the points for his team.
With the drawn result, both Jabloteh and Stars improved to 23 points from 15 matches, the same as Ma Pau. However, Jabloteh is fifth on the ten-team table by virtue of a better goal-difference followed by Stars and Ma Pau.
With three rounds of league matches left to play, Defence Force leads the ten-team table with 34 points despite a 2-1 loss to defending Digicel Pro League champion, bmobile Joe Public on Friday night at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
Second placed Caledonia, which will meet Defence Force tomorrow at Mucurapo from 8 pm is four points behind followed by W Connection and Joe Public, both with 28 points.
However, W Connection which crushed FC South End 6-0 in Saturday’s early match led by two goals each from national Under-20 and senior team duo, Joevin Jones and Shahdon Winchester enjoys a better goal-difference and sits in third.
In Saturday’s first match at Malabar, Kaaron Foster struck five minutes from the end of regulation-time to earn Police a rear point in a 1-1 draw with St Ann’s Rangers. Ten minutes earlier, Kaashif Thomas had given Rangers the lead after a 0-0 first 45 minutes.
League action will continue tomorrow with a double-header at Mucurapo from 6 pm.A double-header is also scheduled for Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva from 6 pm while the other match takes place at Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya.
Teams
North East Stars—Michael Woods, Charles Pollard (capt.), Marc Leslie (Yellow) Kelvin Smith (Glenton Wolfe 46th), Keryn Navarro (Anthony Wolfe 46th), Gary Glasgow, Carey Harris, Errol Mc Farlane, Kendall Velox (Akeil Guevara 68th), Kaydion Gabriel (Yellow), Jeromie Williams.
Coach—Shurland David.
San Juan Jabloteh—Cleon John, Marvin Oliver (capt.), Joel Russell, Sheldon Bateau, Jamal Jack, Anton Hutchinson (Kennedy Hinkson 61st) (Yellow), Ataullah Guerra, Christan Thomas (Yellow, Yellow, Red), Jason Marcano, Hector Sam (Cyrano Glen 65th), Jerrel Britto (Mekeil Awai 74th).
Coach—Terry Fenwick.
Saturday’s Digicel Pro League Results:
W Connection 6 (Joevin Jones 32nd, 83rd, Shahdon Winchester 47th, 66th, Andrei Pacheco 36th, Silvio Spann 55th) vs South End 0.
Rangers 1 (Kaashif Thomas 75th) vs Police 1 (Kaaron Foster 85th).
North East Stars 1 (Akeil Guevarra 73rd) vs San Juan Jabloteh 1 (Jerrol Britto 25th).
Friday:
Caledonia 2 (Ryan Stewart 10th, Jean-Luc Rochford 48th) vs Ma Pau 1 (Aquil Selby 92nd).
Joe Public 2 (Keion Goodridge 21st, Micah Lewis 79th) vs Defence Force 1 (Sean Narcis 89th).