Kevon ‘Showtime’ Woodley gave a display on the field for San Juan Jabloteh on Friday night, scoring a hat-trick to guide his team to a 5-1 demolition of Central FC in the first Tier of the T&T Premier Football League at the Arima Velodrome.
On Saturday, W Connection and Point Fortin Civic FC were in winner’s row against Caledonia 1-0 and Cunupia FC 2-0 at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, Arima, and the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella, respectively.
Already unable to make it to the top three spots that earned berths at the CONCACAF Caribbean Shield and CONCACAF Caribbean Cup, both of which will take place in August, the San Juan men who were second from bottom on the 12-team standings, lifted themselves two spots up to ninth position on 12 points after 19 matches, with the winning result.
They leapfrogged Prisons Service and Morvant Caledonia who were in 10th and ninth positions, respectively. On Friday, the Prison officers were scheduled to face leaders AC Port-of-Spain in the other game of a doubleheader at the Arima venue, before poor markings on the field after the first match, forced officials not to play the game.
After 12 losses to date, the Jabloteh men sought to put some respectability back to their statistics and were rewarded after just the 15th minute when Jadel-Josiah Carter handed them the advantage.
Central FC, currently mid-table, was also eager to make amends for a start that went awfully wrong. And despite going down early, they found the equaliser 1-1 on the stroke of halftime from Ricardo John.
It was a different ball game when the match resumed, however, as ‘Showtime’ Woodley showed Cunupia what they are sadly lacking without him. He restored the Jabloteh advantage to 2-1 with his item in the 52nd minute, and nine minutes later, he made it 3-1, a goal that appeared to have snatched the game out of the Central FC’s reach.
Still, with the game in its midway stage, Woodley completed his hat-trick and gave his team a 4-1 lead.
Now beaten, Central FC surrendered the match in the 85th minute when Ishmael Sawyer fired in his Jabloteh fifth and final goal of the match.
The win pushed them to 12 points, a mere one-point difference from the Prison officers who have now gone to 11th position.
Meanwhile, in Arima, Connection got a solitary goal from the boot of Isaiah Hudson in the fourth minute to secure maximum points, while the pair of Marcus Joseph and Shackiel Henry was on target for the Point Fortin men, ensuring that they stay in the seventh position with 24 points.
Results
Friday
Jabloteh 5 (Jadel-Josiah Carter 15, Kevon Woodley 52nd, 59th, 67th, Ishmael Sawyer 85th) vs Central FC 1 (Ricardo John 45th)
Saturday
W Connection 1 (Isaiah Hudson 4th) vs Caledonia 0
Point Fortin Civic 2 (Marcus Joseph, Shackiel Henry) vs Cunupia FC 0
Sunday’s matches
Club Sando vs La Horquetta Rangers, 4 pm at Manny Ramjohn Stadium
Defence Force vs Police FC, 4 pm at Larry Gomes
Standings
Place*Team*P*W*D*L*F*A*Pts
1*AC PoS*18*16*0*2*52*13*48
2*Defence Force*18*15*1*2*43*11*46
3*Club Sando*18*13*2*3*37*18*41
4*L.H Rangers*18*13*1*4*56*25*40
5*Police*18*10*1*7*37*30*31
6*Central FC*19*8*1*10*31*39*25
7*Point Fortin Civic*19*7*3*9*18*20*24
8*W Connection*19*6*4*9*18*26*22
9*Jabloteh*18*3*3*12*24*24*12
10*Morvant Caledonia*18*3*2*13*17*44*11
11*Prisons Service*18*3*2*13*11*46*11
12*Cunupia FC*19*2*2*15*10*42*8
RELATED NEWS
Woodley hat-trick gives Jaboteh 5-1 win over Central FC.
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday).
A hat-trick from Kevon Woodley propelled San Juan Jabloteh to their biggest win of the TT Premier Football League tier one on Friday as they blew past Central FC 5-1 at the Arima Velodrome.
Jadel-Josiah Carter opened the scoring for Jabloteh in the 15th minute but Central FC drew level just before half-time courtesy of a Rocardo John strike.
But seven minutes into the second period, Jabloteh regained the lead from a Woodley goal. The in-form player found the back of the net twice after, in the 59th and 67th minutes, to seal a well-worked hat-trick in just 15 minutes.
Jabloteh’s Ishmael Sawyer put them out of reach in the 85th as he made it 5-1.
The win for the San Juan-based team (14pts) propelled them from 11th place to ninth on the 12-team standings while Central remain in sixth (25pts).
The other contest between league leaders AC Port of Spain and Prisons Service FC at the Velodrome on Friday was postponed.
Up to press time on Saturday, matches featuring W Connection and Morvant Caledonia and Cunupia FC versus Point Fortin Civic Centre were still in action at the Larry Gomes and Manny Ramjohn stadia respectively.
On Sunday, third-placed Tiger Tanks Club Sando meet fourth-ranked Terminix La Horquetta Rangers at Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella and second-place Defence Force FC battle Police FC, fifth, at the Velodrome. Both matches kick off from 4pm.
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