Troy Thompson scored an equaliser and the winner with a minute left, to take Westside Superstarz back to the top of the blink/bmobile National Super League, after the team triumphed 4–3 over Real Maracas, in a rescheduled thriller of a match, on Wednesday.
After Real Maracas held a 3–2 lead with the clock winding down, Thompson, who already bagged an early equaliser, came up big again as he scored twice in two minutes (89th and 90th) to lift Westside from third place, below WASA and bmobile Joe Public, respectively, to the top of the pack on goal-difference.
The thriller was staged at Westside’s turf at St Anthony’s College Ground, Westmoorings. Real Maracas enjoyed a better start, and within three minutes in the St Joseph-based team was up 1–0 through a Dillon Bartholomew strike. Just two minutes later, however, the early effort was cancelled out by Westside’s Akeil Gilbert.
Kester Mejias followed up with a goal in the 13th to give Maracas its second lead, which was again scratched by Thompson’s first item in the 21st minute. With the match tied at 2–2, going into the second half, it was Maracas again, which scored to find an incredible third lead, when Bartholomew completed a double in the 51st minute.
Heading down to the wire, the second-to-last placed Real Maracas seemed to be heading for a famous win, but for the determination which Westside has demonstrated throughout the season. Thompson popped up with the two all-important goals, which sealed another big win for the Nigel Grosvenor-coached team en route to dethrone reigning champions Joe Public.
The result saw Westside take a lead on the 12-team standings on goal-difference ahead of WASA. The two top teams, on 31 points, hold a one-point advantage over Joe Public, while fourth-placed Stokely Vale trails by eight points.
Westside will travel to the Plymouth Recreation Ground, on Sunday to face Stokely Vale, from 4 pm. WASA and Joe Public will also play their weekend matches on the road, when they travel to FC Santa Rosa and Eagles, respectively.
Standings
Teams Pld W D L F A Pts
Westside 16 9 4 3 35 20 31
WASA 16 9 4 3 21 14 31
Joe Public 16 8 6 2 28 13 30
Stokely Vale 16 6 5 5 27 25 23
Phoenix 16 7 2 7 19 21 23
Santa Rosa 16 5 5 6 28 26 20
Siparia Spurs 15 5 4 6 22 26 19
Eagles 16 4 7 5 17 25 19
Defence Force 16 4 5 7 24 29 17
Club Sando 16 4 4 8 22 19 16
Real Maracas 15 3 7 5 20 23 16
Biche Utd 16 2 5 9 21 41 11
11