Economy North East Stars recorded their second Pro League victory over Bmobile Joe Public in three meetings this season after a 2-0 win yesterday at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar. The result saw Stars leapfrog Public to fourth spot as the Sangre Grande-based team continue to push up the standings and seem set to participate in the post-season Lucozade Big Six competition.

For Public, heartbreak has never been far from success this year. And so, two days after an emphatic 6-0 triumph over St Ann’s Rangers, they failed to trouble Stars goalkeeper Andrew Durant in their weekend defeat. It was the first loss for new Public head coach Derek King who did not find comfort in his hometown.

Akeil Guevara put Stars ahead in the 53rd minute as he stepped inside one defender before deftly curling into the far corner from 20 yards. But the game really heated up, four minutes later, when Stars’ Colombian substitute Milton Espitia, who once had an unsuccessful trial at Public, found himself mistaken for a football by the Public duo of Jason Springer and Wolry Wolfe.

Seconds later, Espitia was at the end of a crunching tackle from Christopher Harvey and his teammate and compatriot Carlos Gonzales, who swapped Public for Stars in July, was lucky to escape a red card as he shoved Harvey in retaliation.

The Public squad defended themselves well enough but there was little protection for goalkeeper Alejandro Figueroa and, four minutes from time, Guevara got an insurance goal after being set up by Stars substitute Sean Cooper. One way or the other, King can be sure that the following month and a half would be memorable.

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