A hat-trick from Nathaniel Perouse gave Prison Service FC a handsome 4-0 victory over Central FC when the Trinidad and Tobago Premier Football League Tier 1 competition continued on Saturday following the Carnival break.
In the second match of a double-header at La Horquetta Recreation Ground, Perouse opened the scoring for Prison in the 14th minute before Kevon Williams doubled the lead 14 minutes later.
Perouse scored again in the 46th and the 56th minutes to seal a comfortable victory for his team.
In the first match, hosts Terminix La Horquetta Rangers whipped Heritage Petroleum Point Fortin Civic 2-0 with Tyrone Charles scoring both goals from the penalty mark.
Charles converted in the 73rd minute and doubled his team’s advantage from the spot in stoppage time.
The victory for Rangers (22 points) saw them overtake defending champs Defence Force (20 pts) and Miscellaneous Police FC (21 pts) to move into second behind leaders AC Port of Spain (25 pts). However, all three teams were in action after press time yesterday.
League leaders AC PoS were in action against Caledonia AIA while Eagles FC squared off against Police FC. Meanwhile, defending champions Defence Force FC travelled to Tobago to face 1976 FC Phoenix at Dwight Yorke Stadium.
While Rangers were “in good spirits” following the win, coach Dave Quamina said it “wasn’t one of our better games.”
“I think the break showed. We didn’t play to our best. We knew this game would have been a hard one and this team had a draw with AC and Defence Force, so we know they are a quality team and a hard working team but we came out with the victory tonight so we are in good spirits,” said Quamina.
For Point Fortin Civic coach Reynold Carrington, Saturday night was “frustrating”. He lamented, “I think we should have attacked the goal a bit more and we didn’t take the shots when we had it.”
Of the first penalty conceded, Carrington felt it was a “soft call” by the referee when the game was level. “That is how the cookie crumbles sometimes. We will lick our wounds and come back again,” Carrington added.
Meanwhile, the victory for Prison has given them some momentum as they hunt a top-three finish. They moved up a place into sixth spot on 15 points. Club Sando currently sit fifth (17 pts).
Prison Service assistant coach Leon Lewis said his players executed their plans.
“For the most part of the game, we did what we came out to do in terms of possession, squeezing the team further up pitch and finishing,” said Lewis.
“We still have work to do on our concentration because the better teams will not give you so much time and space on the ball and when you begin to lose focus in this league you will get punished for it,” he continued.
“It has been a lot of hard work for the last three weeks. We have been telling the guys that you have to finish and you have to score because if you don’t the other team will score. Good work by the team but going forward we still have a lot of to do in order to be competitive and finish in the top three in this competition,” Lewis added.
Central coach Shurland David noted “silly errors” in his team’s defence, saying they still have a lot of work to do.
“Too much of silly errors at the back. We are just giving away games,” said David. “It is not like we can get better players because we don’t have the budget, so we will have to work with what we have. We have to continue to work. It is very hard. It is a difficult position we are in and we can only work with what we have.”
TTPFL Tier 1 Scores:
Central FC 0 vs Prison Service FC 4 (Nathaniel Perouse 14’, 46’, 56’, Kevon Williams 28’)
La Horquetta Rangers 2 (Tyrone Charles (73’ pen, 90+8’ pen) vs Point Fortin Civic 0
SOURCE: T&T Express