REIGNING T&T Premier Football League (TTPFL) champions Defence Force (37 points) moved within two points of leaders Miscellaneous Police FC (39 points) after getting a 2-1 win over the cellar-placed Central FC on Thursday night.
Playing in the first game of a double-header, Defence Force got second-half goals from Shaquille Bertrand and mid-season signing Isaiah Leacock as they kept their slim title hopes alive.
Both Police and the third-placed Defence Force have one game left this season against Central and Eagles FC (formerly Cunupia FC) respectively. The TTPFL title is arguably AC Port of Spain’s to lose, though, as the “Capital Boys” are second on the 11-team table with 38 points and still have two league games left. On Saturday, AC PoS will play the fourth-placed Tiger Tanks Club Sando (32 points) from 4 pm at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar as they look to take a pivotal lead in the title race. AC PoS will conclude their season on May 19 when they face the seventh-placed Heritage Petroleum Pt Fortin Civic.
At the Phase 2 La Horquetta Recreation grounds, Defence Force kept the pressure on the top two in their duel with Central, who are still to win a league game after 19 matches.
After a goalless first half, the Army/Coast Guard combination opened the scoring just after the interval when Bertrand found the back of the net in the 47th minute. Central, who have made it to the semifinals of the First Citizens Knockout Cup, held their own for most of the contest.
In the 89th minute, though, Defence Force opened up a 2-0 lead when former AC PoS forward Leacock scored his ninth goal of the season.
Defence Force did have a nervous end to the game, as flanker Miguel Williams scored in stoppage-time to salvage a consolation for Central.
In the second game of the double-header, hosts Terminix La Horquetta Rangers got back to winning ways when they defeated Prisons FC by a 2-1 margin.
Striker Isaiah Lee opened the scoring for Rangers in the 19th minute, while lanky attacker Leonardo Da Costa doubled the home team’s advantage with his 53rd-minute goal. The 24-year-old Lee, who featured for the Soca Warriors at the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, has been included in a 25-man squad for TT’s two friendlies against Guyana at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo next week.
Prisons got on the scoresheet just after the hour mark through flanker Brendan Figuera, but Rangers held on to get their eighth victory of the season.
Rangers (28 points) consolidated fifth spot on the table, while Prisons are ninth.
SOURCE: T&T Newsday
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