T&TEC’s Damian Charles produced a splendid performance to help his team to a winning start as action continued in the SIS Industrial Football League on Wednesday.
The muscular forward showed his prowess and skill as he maneuvered between the Plipdeco defense to create chances and cause disarray in their backline.
Charles opened the scoring in the 9th minute with a pinpoint finish in the top right corner past goalkeeper Kwesi Griffith. T&TEC had the opportunity to go two goals up six minutes later when Nolan Mohammed whipped in a fiery low cross but Charles failed to make contact with the ball against an open goal and had to watch it go out for a goal kick.
Plipdeco responded with a few hopeful strikes from outside the area but struggled to connect their passes and build momentum as they ended the first half trailing one goal to nil. On the resumption, Charles made up for the clear cut chance he missed earlier, bagging a second goal to sink Plipdeco into further trouble.
Goalkeeper Griffith would deny Charles his hat trick a couple minutes later as he tipped a long range effort just over to crossbar to keep his team in the game. Griffith’s effort sparked a revival amongst his teammates as Plipdeco started to be more creative and attacking on both flanks and were justly rewarded when Keston Belfor slammed home Plipdeco’s first of the match.
The game was setup for an exciting finish and so it would be as Plipdeco pressed for an equaliser and T&TEC defended like their lives depended on it. Ajamu Matterson, who scored a brace for Plipdeco in their first match on Monday, led the charge but unfortunately saw his efforts go agonizingly wide on a few occasions. T&TEC would hold firm and gather a valuable three points putting Plipdeco under immense pressure having drawn their first fixture.
In the second fixture of the day, the Methanol Division of Industrial Plant Services Limited (IPSL MX) took on Yara in a match where little opportunities and spaces were found early on. The first half was a virtual midfield battle with both teams losing possession regularly resulting in shots from outside the box.
Both teams would have been disappointed as they headed in at half time with the score 0-0. MX and Yara seemed as though they received some stern words from their managers at the interval as they came out full throttle at the start of the 2nd half with both teams going head to head and punch for punch, it was just a matter of time before one suffered a deadly blow. Unfortunately, it was Yara to concede when Terrence London’s long range effort slammed into the lower left corner to give MX the lead.
This initiated a string of attempts from3 teams as Yara pushed for an equalizer and MX sought that all important extra goal to seal the match. It was not until the final play of the match that Yara stole victory from MX when Keston Davis drilled an effort from about 10 metres out to rupture the back of the net. Yara erupted in celebrations as the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the match.
MX would be disappointed having lost two points due to a momentary lapse in concentration and will look to rebound in their next match against Nu Iron Unlimited.