Jabloteh disarm Defence Force 3-1

CL FINANCIAL San Juan Jabloteh maintained their unbeaten streak in the T&T Pro League with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Defence Force at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo yesterday. The game was pushed back by an hour due to lack of match officials but, at the end of the 90 minutes, Jabloteh remained atop the standings with 33 points after 13 matches. Two matches were postponed because of  the absence of officials, the Joe Public vs South Starworld Strikers matchup at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya, Tunapuna, and the W Connection vs Arima Fire clash at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar, Arima, while the Jabloteh vs Defence Force Under-20 fixture was also put off for the failure of officials to turn up at the Mucurapo venue. Up to press time last night, South West Institute of Football (SWIF) were leading “The Stallions” of Caledonia AIA 2-1 in the second half.  In their U-20 clash, the Southerners prevailed 2-1.

Defence Force were pushed on the back foot from as early as the second minute, when a Michael Celestine left-footed attempt, from a feed from fellow midfielder Otis Seaton, hit the upright and went out of play. But Jabloteh made amends in the seventh, with defender Corey Rivers tapping into his own net when attempting to clear out a header from fellow national Under-23 team--mate Devon Mitchell. Another Trinidad and Tobago U-23 selectee, right-winger Josh Johnson also had a hand in Jabloteh’s second goal — sending a low centre which eluded defenders Kelshall Alexander, Anton Pierre and Owen Matthews, with Otis Seaton blasting past goalkeeper Selwyn George inside the six-yard box. Rivers atoned for his earlier error, collecting a Ronald Boyce pass and slotting home, with the aid of a Cyd Gray deflection, in the 28th. The Army-Coast Guard combination had a golden opportunity to level the scores, but Boyce sent his shot overbar following excellent work on the left by Akudu Goodridge. Celestine will put the game beyond Defence Force with a fantastic strike in the 56th.