An inspired Bon Air FC unit confirmed their spot in the next round of the Eddie Hart Football League (EHFL) with a proficient second half performance to stop a solid Samba Boys line-up 3-1 in a crucial Group Three encounter at the Eddie Hart Savannah (EHS), Tacarigua last week Wednesday.
But 2006 champions Valtrin United were denied a Big Eight spot after CAPS defaulted their contest to Pacemakers, giving them the three points they desperately needed to edge out the former champs.
Needing to win, Pacemakers got the gift without even taking the field as the central team failed to show up for their engagement, allowing Pacemakers to claim third spot in Group One with 17 points, one more than Valtrin (16).
Up-and-down Valtrin found themselves in the position that they are in right now after blowing a 2-0 lead last Saturday to share the spoils in a 2-2 draw with Arouca Hustlers, who finished on 17 points as well, but with a better goal difference than Pacemakers.
Richard Hospedales scored both items for Valtrin, to take his total to 11. He leads the race for the Golden Boot from MAASH’s Ellis Dyatt (ten goals). John Belgraves and Anthony Noel scored for Hustlers.
Newcomers Arsenal topped the group with 19 points, after they too benefited from a defaulted game against Flippers last weekend.
In the highlight encounter last week, Clancy Burns notched a second-half double to help Bon Air break Samba Boys’ six-game winning streak and at the time, handed the southerners their fifth defeat in as many matches in all competitions.
The points put the inaugural 2009 Community Shield champions Bon Air on the high ground in Group Three, with 18 points. An improved Paradise FC claimed second position in the group with 16.
The setback left Samba Boys--who will have six points deducted from their present 18 for not marching on the opening day of the season-to fight for full points against an improved 1TTR Sunday to give them a chance of qualifying as one of the best third place teams.
The first of Burns’ two goals was a bullet-like left footer that went past Samba’s goalkeeper, high to his right in the 55th minute, while his second (68th) was a clinical finish with his head from a right cross.
The contest as a whole was keenly contested. The first session went to an efficient Samba Boys side, who blended a combination of short and long passes as they attacked from both sides of the park going south to north.
They would have considered themselves very unlucky not to go into the intermission at least a goal or two up after Dwayne Charles  broke the deadlock in the 20th minute with a neat header from a pin-point cross from the right side, following a sequence of passes that caught Bon Air’s defence asleep.
The goal was always on the cards, as the visitors mastered the soft conditions faster than their rivals and came close to netting before their lone item of the game.
Most of their efforts were thwarted by a solid Bon Air back line, including their custodian M. Woods, who exhibited a clean pair of gloves throughout the contest.
However, against the run of play and midway into the first period, Samba scored again--but it was in the wrong net at a time when Bon Air’s backs were firmly against the wall.
On the resumption, last year’s runners-up lifted their game.
Bon Air controlled the second session admirably, with their usual short-passing style, as the conditions dried out following early afternoon rain in Tacarigua.
They were rewarded for their excellent work with two Burns gems to stage an impressive come-from-behind triumph and boost their confidence for the rest of the campaign.