AIA rally to beat Connection

CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh also responded from an early setback to demolish Tobago United 5-1 at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Arima to stay second on the standings.

Joe Public remained third after drubbing Superstar Rangers 3-0 in the second match of a double-header at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

Defence Force and North East Stars, who have both been disappointing so far, each registered their third win of the season, each by 3-0 margins, to move up to fifth and sixth position respectively.

The Army-Coast Guard combination profited from three defensive lapses to crush the out-of-form United Petrotrin in the first match of the Mucurapo double-header while, in the first game at Couva, North East Stars brushed aside Police.

In the AIA-Connection encounter, former Australian-based striker Kevin Nelson put the “Savonetta lads” in front after 26 minutes of action before dreadlocked midfielder Marvin Oliver tied the scores in the 57th.

Knowing that a draw will have put Jabloteh atop the standings, Caledonia scored the decisive goal through midfielder Joseph in the 85th, to hand Connection only their second defeat of the season. Connection, the Pro Bowl champs played the match without Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Silvio Spann who left on Monday for trials at English Championship club Sheffield United.

On Tuesday Kayode Legall stunned the Jabloteh faithful with a sixth minute lead, before TT midfielder Trent Noel equalised in the tenth.

Antiguan forward Peter Byers took advantage of the weak Tobago United defence to register a hat-trick, in the 17th, 35th and 45th minutes, with TT Under-20 representative Elton John getting the other in the 44th.

Rangers, without injured playmaker Kerwyn “Hardest” Jemmott, left their main marksman Errol McFarlane and veteran midfielder Marc Borde on the bench, and the youthful line-up looked out of their depth against the experienced “Eastern Lions.”

National defender Seon Power headed a Jason Springer diagonal ball against the crossbar in the 17th while fellow TT player Gary Glasgow hit a Kwame Wiltshire pass overbar in the 33rd. Five minutes later, national midfielder Kerry Baptiste broke the deadlock, getting behind the Rangers’ defence to drill a Nigel “Croc” Pierre pass home, via a deflection from goalkeeper Shane Mattis. Veteran Rangers’ midfielder Joseph Peters, a shadow of his former self, sent a needless back-pass to Glasgow, who calmly placed the ball beyond the reach of Mattis to extend his team’s lead.

McFarlane came on in the second half but was easily handled by the Joe Public defenders, while ex-TT Under-17 captain Josimar Belgrave headed a freekick from Marvin James against the crossbar in the 55th.

But Glasgow completed the scoring in the 84th, collecting a long ball and nonchalantly lobbing the advancing Mattis.

Devon Jorsling opened up the account for the “Teteron Lads” in the 14th minute, and the striker supplied a pass for Corey Rivers to double the team’s lead in the 44th, slipping his right-footer beyond Petrotrin’s goalie Perry Martin.

Jorsling was again in the thick of things, his corner in the 56th was headed against the bar by defender Michael Edwards.

Inexplicably, Petrotrin strikers Peter Prosper and Andre Alexis, both alone with Defence Force goalie Kevin Graham, missed point-blank opportunities to reduce the deficit in the 68th.

And that error proved costly ten minutes later when Martin and defender Devon Drayton failed to clear a back-pass, which allowed Richard Roy to slip by and poke his right-footer into the open net.

North East Stars had little trouble in their contest against the lawmen, with goals from three left-footed attackers —Guyanese Randolph Jerome (ninth), St Vincent’s Kendall Velox (26th) and TT’s Kendall Jagdeosingh (80th).

Matches in Round Two Match Day Two will be contested on Saturday.