Caledonia trounce Petrotrin 3-1.
By: Joel Bailey (Newsday).
Caledonia AIA moved to third spot in the Pro League standings following a comfortable 3-1 win over United Petrotrin in the second of back-to-back rescheduled matches at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Arima on Sunday night.
Guyanese striker Nigel Codrington opened proceedings for Caledonia with an 11th minute penalty, following an infringement by national midfielder Keon Daniel.
But Caledonia got a setback 16 minutes later when ex-Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Stephan David was sent off by referee Neal Brizan for his second bookable offence.
Things got worse for the Jerry Moe-coached Caledonia when another national midfielder, Densill Theobald, had to be substituted in the 43rd after a hard tackle from Petrotrin teenager Akeem Parris.
A dull second-half came alive with three goals in the space of six minutes.
In the 63rd, Codrington got a ball from his defence and sent co-striker Kendall Velox clear on the left. Under pressure from ex-TT defender Kareem Smith, Velox’s pass was dummied by Hayden Tinto to Akim Armstrong (Theobald’s replacement), who drove his 20-metre right footer beyond Petrotrin’s goalkeeper Curtis Granger.
Four minutes later, TT central defender Makan Hislop rose above the Caledonia defence to head Parris’ in-swinging left-footed corner past goalie Michael Woods. And another TT representative, right-back Gyasi Joyce, guaranteed Caledonia’s victory with a fantastic strike in the 69th.
A long-ball from left-back Walter Moore to Codrington was diverted to Joyce who, after beating the off-side trap, drove into the penalty box before unleashing a thunderous left-footer beyond the reach of Granger. The earlier game in Arima also ended with a 3-1 score-line, as Defence Force prevailed over Tobago United.
Christopher Durity (35th), Devon Jorsling (53rd) and Kevon Carter (55th) got their names on the score-sheet for the Army-Coast Guard combination while evergreen Guyanese forward Collie Hercules (78th) pulled one back for Tobago United.
Action continues today with four matches, the most intriguing being the meeting between leaders CLICO San Juan Jabloteh and Caledonia at Arima.
Each teams will be fielding a player who ended the 2007 at the respective clubs, with national striker Cornell Glen returning to the Jabloteh outfit (he started the season with Ma Pau but only on a three- month-long deal) while St Lucian defender Sheldon Emmanuel returns to the Caledonia outfit.
Petrotrin will host Defence Force at the Palo Seco Recreation Ground, while Tobago will again make the inter-island trek to oppose St Ann’s Rangers at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.
And North East Stars and cellar-placed Ma Pau will square off against each other at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella. Kick-off time for today’s matches is 5 pm.
