NATHANIEL JAMES, the Trinidad and Tobago national youth team star, produced a late stunner when scoring the only goal as Tiger Tanks Club Sando edged AC Port of Spain 1-0, yesterday, at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar --knocking the early leaders off the top of the Trinidad and Tobago Premier Football League (TTPFL) table.
“Sando” now share the TTPFL lead along with Point Fortin Civic and Morvant Caledonia United, all on four points.
Following an uneventful first half, the second half had only just began to heat up when “Natty” unleashed a stinging left-footer from outside the penalty area, beating the dive of AC Port of Spain goalie Jadel Poon-Lewis for what turned out the match-winning goal.
AC Port of Spain fielded the much-vaunted attacking force of Che Benny, Duane Muckette and Jaydon Prowell which saw them upset high-regarded Defence Force 3-0 on opening match day, but yesterday could find no way to break down a traditionally defensive Club Sando.
“Sando” had far less possession, but looked dangerous, racing forward at the same fast pace at which their coach, the former T&T 2006 World Cup striker Cornell Glen, once operated. Glen had Kareem Riley and Josiah Trimmingham back from a Jamaican tour with the T&T national team, and another former national striker Nicholas Dillon up front.
But he still fielded a relatively young bunch with national youth striker James coming off the bench and undoing all the good work that 36-year-old Radanfah Abu Bakr and the experienced defensive team of Robert Primus, Maurice Forde and Kareem Eastman had previously done for the PoS team.
“Very disappointing. The performance was too flat,” stated a dejected Walt Noreiga, the AC Port of Spain coach. “We were possessing the ball, but we were not effective with it.”
Conversely, coach Glen was much more pleased, having picked up his first win as a top flight coach. “I think we allowed them to play too easily between the lines, especially in the first half,” noted Glen. “It was a much-better second half. I think Nathaniel came on and gave us just what we needed in the No.10 position.”
In matches played on Saturday, a pair of Omri Baird goals (55’ & 65’) saw Point Fortin Civic secure a 2-0 win over Prisons FC for their first win of the season, after drawing their season-opener 1-1 with Club Sando, in the first match of an Arima Velodrome double-header.
Later, a significantly strengthened Central FC had to rally for a 1-1 draw with Morvant Caledonia United in the second match, despite having the firepower of Kadeem Corbin, Jerrel Britto, Keron “Ball Pest” Cummings, Akeem Roach, Willis Plaza and Ricardo John all available. Veteran and captain Carlyle Mitchell headed Caledonia ahead in the 27th minute from a corner-kick, before John earned Central FC a share of the points when scoring in the 74th minute.
SOURCE: T&T Express
16 