Jabloteh whip N/East Stars

The first of the “Super Friday” double-header, in Round One Match Day Five, saw FC South End register a stunning 2-1 triumph over Caledonia AIA.

Both Jabloteh and North East entered the game with one win apiece, after four matches, but Jabloteh were dominant, from start to finish, against a poor North East team, who featured a number of veteran players who, admittedly, are at the twilight of their careers.

The North East display was so bad that they were unable to muster a single shot on goal, as they allowed Jabloteh (a shadow of the invincible team from the mid-2000s) to dictate the entire game.

Murray opened the scoring in the 14th minute, rising above the defence to head Jason Marcano’s deep inswinging corner, from the left, beyond the reach of North East goalkeeper Michael Woods.

Seven minutes later, the North East keeper was again called into action, to deny Cyrano Glen’s left-footer to the near post while, shortly into the second half, Elijah Manners slipped a ball to the goal-bound Jerrel Britto, but the striker failed to hit the target with Woods beaten.

Jabloteh veteran midfielder Marvin Oliver headed Marcano’s freekick over before Viana got his team’s second item in the 66th.

Substitute Johan Peltier was taken down by right-back Carlos Gonzales inside the penalty box but referee Shane De Silva played the advantage, and Viana pounced on the loose ball to hit it, via the body of the diving Woods.

Six minutes from full-time, Noel Williams could have capped off the game with a third, but his left-footer went inches wide of Woods’ left post after a wonderful counter-attacking run by Oliver.

In the earlier game at Mucurapo, FC South End caused an upset when they defeated Caledonia AIA to move up to seventh place, one position higher than AIA.

Kenrick Ettienne gave South End a 19th minute lead before Hayden Vincent knotted up the scores in the 23rd.

An on-field brawl, in the 48th, saw referee Shawn Pouchet issue red cards to Caledonia’s centre-back Nuru Muhammad and South End’s Jimmeal Huyghue, after their respective coaches Jamaal Shabazz (AIA) and Anthony Rougier (South End) had to act as peacemakers.

The match was meandering towards an uneventful draw before South End grabbed the winner, with three minutes remaining.

Caledonia’s defender Kareem Joseph was caught in possession by Troy Moses (who came on as a sub a few minutes earlier) and the striker calmly placed his right-footer under the despairing dive of goalie Kevin Graham.

Three matches were carded to take place yesterday— Joe Public against W Connection at the Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya, Police versus St Ann’s Rangers at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva and Ma Pau versus Tobago United at Mucurapo.

STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
Defence Force 4 4 0 0 9 1 12
San Juan Jabloteh 5 2 1 2 7 4 7
W Connection 4 2 1 1 6 5 7
Joe Public 4 1 3 0 7 4 6
North East Stars 5 1 3 1 7 6 6
Ma Pau 4 1 3 0 4 3 6
FC South End 5 2 0 3 5 7 6
Caledonia AIA 4 1 1 2 6 8 4
St Ann’s Rangers 3 0 2 1 2 4 2
Tobago United 3 0 1 2 3 8 1
Police 3 0 1 2 3 9 1