Jabloteh extinguish Fire 3-1
A WORKMAN-LIKE performance by CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh gave the T&T Pro League leaders full points against Arima Fire at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar, Arima, yesterday. The unbeaten Jabloteh scored their 12th win of the season, beating Fire 3-1 and now hold an eight-point advantage over W Connection, who crushed South West Institute of Football (SWIF) 6-2 at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva. Otis Seaton failed to give Jabloteh the lead in the 12th, blasting his penalty wide after referee Austin Perelion adjudged a handled ball by Fire defender Anthony Haynes.
Against the run of play, Fire would draw first blood in the 16th when Akiel Guevara sent striker Ashford Legerton clear, and with national Under-23 defenders Ronald Primus and Nigel Daniel flatfooted, calmly slotted home past Jabloteh goalkeeper Kelvin Jack. Fire held the lead until the 36th minute, when a left-side centre from Daniel was misjudged by Fire goalie Peter Ramon-Fortune leaving an unmarked Fabien Garcia to tap home into the open net. Seaton was again off-target when a Garcia pass was struck overbar in the 40th, while a minute later, Cornell Glen evaded Ramon-Fortune but rifled his drive against the crossbar. Jabloteh were not going to be denied though, and victory was secured with an own goal in the 53rd and a rare item from Travis Mulraine in the 87th.
A Garcia pass was collected by Seaton on the right who dribbled past Nathaniel Charles and sent a low drive to Glen who mis-kicked his shot on goal but Dave Charles in an attempted clearance knocked the ball into his own net. And, with Fire showing no initiative in attack, a long ball from Primus was collected in the box by a lurking Mulraine who muscled past two defenders and powered his right footer home. At Couva, a 10th minute strike from SWIF midfielder Brent Hudson cancelled out Connection’s opener from Gefferson Goulart in the fifth. But Connection restored their lead at the halftime interval with goals from Earl Jean, in the 35th, and Arnold Dwarika seven minutes later. SWIF were unable to find any sort of rhythm in the second half, with Connection securing full points following strikes from Goulart in the 70th and national Under-23 captain Silvio Spann in the 77th. Bevon Lewis reduced the deficit to 5-2 when he scored in the 80th but Spann’s second in injury time was a fitting end to a commanding Connection display.
Under-20 Results: JABLO-TEH (5) - Ijanna Mark 2, Ricardo Bennett 2, Jerol Forbes 1 vs FIRE (0); W CONNECTION (5) - Jason Marcano 2, Kyle Cupid, Arnold Ferguson, Brenton De Leon vs SWIF (0).
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"Jabloteh extinguish Fire 3-1"