The Army & the Oilmen play to goalless draw.
By: Gordon Pierre (ttproleague).
Defence Force and United Petrotrin played to an enthralling, but goalless draw in the first game of an exciting double at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain, on Tuesday evening. Both teams came off victories on the weekend, so this clash promised to be an exciting affair and did not disappoint with good build-ups and attractive football. United had the first crack at goal, when in the 1st minute Kevin Hernandez hit overbar after a neat pass by Keon Daniel.
Six minutes later Kevon Clement also shot overbar after another nice build up by Brian Williams’ men. Defence Force although not having many clear-cut chances were playing attractive football with good passes and patient build-ups.
In the 18th minute Christian Baptiste was booked for a dangerous tackle, six minutes later another Defence Force player David Alleyne was also shown a yellow card for an ugly tackle on United’s Simeon Augustus.
The two teams continued to play decent football without threatening each other’s goal. In the 36th minute Defence Force’s Akil Pierre was to miss the best scoring chance of the half when he headed wide a picture perfect cross from Christian "Paw Boy" Bapiste.
Searching for more penetration up front army coach Anthony Barrington made a change in the 43rd minute bringing in Dexter Pacheco for Sean Narcis.
The second half provided more scoring opportunities with both teams trying to get full points. In the 49th minutes Petrotrin’s Simeon Augustus missed a sitter when a mix-up gifted him the ball in the 18-yard box.
Two minutes later Army’s half time substitute Devon Jorsling returned the favor when shooting from inside the United’s 18-yard box. After these two early second half chances, the game took on the look of the first half with good build-ups by both teams, but lack of penetration in the final third.
In the 60th minute, Jerrol Forbes missed an easy chance to score after Army’s keeper Cleon John missed a routine cross. United had their captain Anthony Rougier to thank in the 66th minute, when he blocked a shot by Ronald St Loius.
Former National player Dexter Cyrus missed an easy chance, when he hit overbar after a perfect cross by Keon Daniel. Army’s Kevon Carter had numerous half chances in the last ten minutes but just could not get his shot on target. In the end both teams had to settle for a share of the points, which still left them in the bottom half of the table and with a lot of work to do to finish the season in the top five.
Teams.
United Petrotrin:[/b] Perry Martin (GK), Simeon Augustus (Ijanar Mark), Kevon Clement (Lee Haynes), Romauld Aguillera, Marlon Lewis, Anthony Rougier, Al Sinclair, Kelvin Hernandez, Anthony Haynes, Jerrol Forbes (Dexter Cyrus), Keon Daniel.
Defence Force: Cleon John (GK), Anton Pierre, Kelshall Alexander, David Alleyne, Anton Joseph, Corey Rivers, Ronald St Louis (Akudu Goodridge), Sean Narcis (Dexter Pacheco), Christian Baptiste, Akil Pierre (Devorn Jorsling), Kevon Carter.
