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Charles Pollard, right, of DirecTV North East Stars, makes a timely clearance to deny Jerrel Britto of San Juan Jabloteh a shot on goal during their Digicel Pro League match at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on FridayKarlon Murray and Brazilian Ronaldo Viana were both on target as San Juan Jabloteh shut-out DirecTV North East Stars 2-0 in the feature match of a Digicel Pro League “Super Friday” double-header at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

But it was Stars’ who started the brighter of both teams and almost went ahead when Jamaican forward Sean Fraser had a clear look at goal in the second minute after cutting off Elijah Manners’ pass. But with goalkeeper Cleon John and the goal at his mercy he fired wide.

Fraser and Stars’ were made to rue that early miss when Murray raced in at the back post to outjump defenders, Charles Pollard and Brent Sancho to head home Jason Marcano’s corner past goalkeeper Michael Woods.

Jabloteh had a couple more chances to add to its tally with Cyrano Glen forcing a save from Woods in the 21st minute and Jerrel Britto misfiring from inside the 18-yard box ten minutes later.

On the resumption, Jabloteh continued to enjoy the better of the exchanges as Britto and Murray having another attempt on goal. Jabloteh finally doubled its lead in the 67th minute when Viana guided a right footed shot past Woods for a 2-0 advantage.

At the other end of the field, Stars’ strikers, Errol Mc Farlane Jr and Fraser were kept in check by the Jabloteh defence marshalled by Murray as his team coasted to its second straight win.

With the win, Jabloteh improved to seven points from five matches, the same as W Connection and five adrift of unbeaten leaders Defence Force.

W Connection came up against defending champions, bmobile Joe Public last night at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya. Stars remained on six points in fourth spot along with Joe Public, Ma Pau and South End. In the first match, South End got an 88th minute winner from substitute Troy Moses to pull off a shock 2-1 win over Caledonia.

Midfielder Kenrick Ettienne put South End ahead in the 19th minute with a glancing header off a right sided centre by Aubrey David but within four minutes Caledonia was back on level terms through Hayden Vincent fired past goalkeeper Aquelius Sylvester from distance after receiving a short pass from Akim Armstrong.

Vincent then wasted a chance to put Caledonia ahead when he dragged a shot wide of the target after being put through on goal by team-mate Ryan Stewart’s flick on header. Six minutes into the second-half, both teams were reduced to ten men after referee Sean Fouche showed red cards to South End’s Jimmeal Huyghue and Nuru Abdulla Muhammed for an off the ball altercation.

Following the expulisons, both team struggled to created any real openings until two minutes from time when Moses, who replaced Wendell Rennie three minutes earlier beat Jamaican goalkeeper Kevin Graham from close range to hand South End all three points.

In yesterday’s other matches, Ma Pau came up against Tobago United at Mucurapo while Police entertained St Ann’s Rangers at Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.

Digicel Pro League Results

South End 2 (Kenrick Ettienne 19th, Troy Moses 88th) vs Caledonia 1 (Hayden Vincent 23rd)

Jabloteh 2 (Karlon Murray 15th, Ronaldo Viana 67th) vs North East Stars 0.

Teams

Caledonia AIA—Kevin Graham, Stephen David (capt), Nuru Abdallah Muhammed (Red), Ryan Stewart(Shawn Beveney 72nd), Abdallah Phillips, Kareem Joseph, Walter Moore, Akim Armstrong (Ishmael Daniel 60th), Densill Theobald, Daneil Cyrus, Hayden Vincent (Kerry Frederick 65th)

Coach—Jamaal Shabazz

FC SouthEnd—Aquelius Sylvester (Yellow), Anthony Haynes (capt), Aubrey David, Dexter Alleyne, Larry Bacchus, Eddison Smart, Wendell Rennie (Troy Moses 84th), Jimmeal Huyghue (Red), Kelvin Modeste, Adarayll John, Kennrick- Amare Ettienne (Dennis Burgess 84th)

Technical Director—Anthony Rougier

San Juan Jabloteh—Cleon John, Marvin Oliver (capt), Karlon Murray, Noel Williams, Elijah Manners, Ronaldo Viana, Jason Marcano (Mikeil Awai 81st), Cyrano Glen (Johan Peltier 54th), Joel Russell, Jamal Jack, Jerrel Britto (Ataullah Guerra 70th)

Coach—Terry Fenwick

North East Stars—Michael Woods, Leslie Fitzpatrick (capt), Carlos Gonzales, Brent Sancho, Marc Leslie, Arnold Dwarika (Jason Devenish 46th), Sean Fraser (Akeil Guevara 68th), Charles Pollard (Yellow), Glenton Wolfe, Errol McFarlane, Carey Harris

Coach—Rod Underwood


Jabloteh whip N/East Stars.
By Joel Bailey (T&T Newsday).


San Juan Jabloteh whipped North East Stars 2-0 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, with goals from Karlon Murray and Ronaldo Viana, to climb up from sixth to second spot in the Digicel Pro League.

The first of the “Super Friday” double-header, in Round One Match Day Five, saw FC South End register a stunning 2-1 triumph over Caledonia AIA.

Both Jabloteh and North East entered the game with one win apiece, after four matches, but Jabloteh were dominant, from start to finish, against a poor North East team, who featured a number of veteran players who, admittedly, are at the twilight of their careers.

The North East display was so bad that they were unable to muster a single shot on goal, as they allowed Jabloteh (a shadow of the invincible team from the mid-2000s) to dictate the entire game.

Murray opened the scoring in the 14th minute, rising above the defence to head Jason Marcano’s deep inswinging corner, from the left, beyond the reach of North East goalkeeper Michael Woods.

Seven minutes later, the North East keeper was again called into action, to deny Cyrano Glen’s left-footer to the near post while, shortly into the second half, Elijah Manners slipped a ball to the goal-bound Jerrel Britto, but the striker failed to hit the target with Woods beaten.

Jabloteh veteran midfielder Marvin Oliver headed Marcano’s freekick over before Viana got his team’s second item in the 66th.

Substitute Johan Peltier was taken down by right-back Carlos Gonzales inside the penalty box but referee Shane De Silva played the advantage, and Viana pounced on the loose ball to hit it, via the body of the diving Woods.

Six minutes from full-time, Noel Williams could have capped off the game with a third, but his left-footer went inches wide of Woods’ left post after a wonderful counter-attacking run by Oliver.

In the earlier game at Mucurapo, FC South End caused an upset when they defeated Caledonia AIA to move up to seventh place, one position higher than AIA.

Kenrick Ettienne gave South End a 19th minute lead before Hayden Vincent knotted up the scores in the 23rd.

An on-field brawl, in the 48th, saw referee Shawn Pouchet issue red cards to Caledonia’s centre-back Nuru Muhammad and South End’s Jimmeal Huyghue, after their respective coaches Jamaal Shabazz (AIA) and Anthony Rougier (South End) had to act as peacemakers.

The match was meandering towards an uneventful draw before South End grabbed the winner, with three minutes remaining.

Caledonia’s defender Kareem Joseph was caught in possession by Troy Moses (who came on as a sub a few minutes earlier) and the striker calmly placed his right-footer under the despairing dive of goalie Kevin Graham.

Three matches were carded to take place yesterday— Joe Public against W Connection at the Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya, Police versus St Ann’s Rangers at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva and Ma Pau versus Tobago United at Mucurapo.


Ma Pau second in Pro League.
By Joel Bailey (T&T Newsday).


Ma Pau moved to second spot in the Digicel Pro League standings after spanking Tobago United 3-1 in their Round One Match Day Five meeting at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Saturday night.

Following the five games on schedule, Ma Pau is in second spot with nine points, three points adrift of Defence Force, with W Connection, Joe Public and San Juan Jabloteh trailing.

The handful of supporters at Mucurapo saw Trevin Caesar, Kerry Noray and Anthony Wolfe find the back of the net for Ma Pau, while Kayode McKinnon responded for Tobago United.

Caesar opened the scoring after 13 minutes, capitalising on a loose ball and drilling a low right-footer past the left of Tobago’s outstretched goalkeeper Andrew Durant.

Midfielder Rennie Britto was a force for Ma Pau on the right flank, and he did well to find Lester Peltier inside the penalty box, but the striker failed to widen the team’s advantage.

But, in the 27th, Britto’s cross from the right was spilled by Durant, and Noray pounced on the loose ball to give Ma Pau a two-goal cushion.

Moments after the restart, Caesar tested Durant with a long-range effort, which went wide, while McKinnon, captain of Tobago United, had a chance to reduce the deficit when he was sent clear on goal, but his effort was blocked by Ma Pau goalie Shane Mattis.

McKinnon atoned for that error in the 64th, curling a right-footed freekick past the diving Mattis after he was impeded, on his way to goal, by veteran defender Cyd Gray.

However, Ma Pau had a wonderful opportunity to score, ten minutes later, when Caesar and Kevin Molino exchanged passes before Caesar chipped the advancing Durant.

The ball was trickling wide but Peltier tracked the ball and sent it at goal, before it was cleared off the line by Michael Crandon.

Wolfe ended any glimmer of hope Tobago had of sharing the points with a thunderous free-kick, at the edge of the penalty box, in stoppage time after referee Gregory Guevara spotted a handle-ball by defender Dwayne Jack.

Both W Connection and Joe Public failed to make up ground between themselves and leaders Defence Force. Connection and Joe Public drew 1-1 at the Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya.

Yu Hoshide converted a freekick, past Connection’s goalie Miguel Lloyd, to put the defending champs ahead in the 16th.

But Matthew Bartholomew, after he was taken down by stand-in Joe Public captain Makan Hislop, replied with another spot-kick, this time a 20th minute penalty, sending keeper Marvin Phillip the wrong way.

Most of the action took place in the second period, with Andre Toussaint, in his first game against his former club, forcing a good save from Lloyd, while Marcus Joseph’s powerful left-footed free-kick went inches overbar, as Joe Public went in search of the go-ahead goal.

Connection had a golden opportunity in the 65th, as Joevin Jones’ indirect freekick fell to Teba McKnight who failed to divert the ball past Phillip, while Joe Public’s defender Jevon Morris watched in agony as his long-range effort whizzed past the uprights.

Morris will not last the full game, as he was send off by referee Neal Brizan, in the 84th, for his second bookable offence.

St Ann’s Rangers swapped places with Caledonia AIA, moving up to eighth spot after a 5-2 trouncing of the cellar-placed Police at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.

On Friday, at Mucurapo, FC SouthEnd pipped AIA 2-1 while San Juan Jabloteh took care of North East Stars 2-0. Round One Match Day Six action will be contested this weekend (June 4 and 5).