Caledonia in second after whipping 10-man Joe Public
ttproleague.com
Caledonia AIA jumped one spot up the standings into second on Friday night after registering a 2-0 win over defending Digicel Pro League champs bmobile Joe Public at the Marvin Lee Stadium with second half goals by Akim Armstrong and Abdallah Phillips.
The Morvant/Laventille side (27 points) is now four points behind 2010-2011 League leaders Defence Force (31 points)—who will tackle FC SouthEnd on Saturday at the Ato Boldon Stadium—while Joe Public(25 points) dropped into third switching with Caledonia as the race for the title bubbles.
Following a keenly contested Round Two Match Day Five opening period, Joe Public suffered a blow in the 25th minute when referee Neil Brizan awarded central defender Makan Hislop a direct red card for a rash challenge on Caledonia’s Guyanese attacking wingback Walter Moore.
Opening item
The ten-men Joe Public held themselves together until eight minutes inside the second period when from a corner Nuru Abdullah Muhammed flicked on to find Akim Armstrong who bowed low to head between the Joe Public defence and past goalkeeper Andre Marchan giving Caledonia the 1-0 advantage.
Victory sealed
Five minutes after replacing goalscorer Armstrong in the 85th minute, midfielder Abdallah Phillips sealed Caledonia’s victory with a 2-0 score in the first of five added-on minutes when he placed a low shot past Marchan from distance after Conrod Smith failed to beat the Joe Public goalie from inside the area.
Missed chances
Nine minutes into the match, a deflection off Caledonia defender Daniel Cyrus looped the ball towards goal, but goalkeeper Kevin Graham showed brilliant athleticism to race to the opposite direction and toss the ball off the face of goal.
Joe Public forward Kerry Baptiste was the recipient of the loose ball but his reaction was a bit too late allowing Graham to block out his shot for a corner.
From the resulting corner taken by Japanese midfielder Yu Hoshide saw defender Jevon Morris’ glancing header whisked the ball past the far post.
Caledonia then had an opportunity in the 20th minute when striker Hayden Vincent unleashed a shot just wide of the far upright from some 22 yards out.
Vincent then provided a low cross inside the area in the 23rd minute however midfielder Ryan Stewart under pressure from Hislop poked wide of the far post.
Two minutes later, Hislop received his marching orders for the foul on Moore.
Caledonia continued to build some decent offensive plays and in the 28th minute Stewart hammered high after Armstrong back heeled a pass on top of the area.
Meantime Joe Public wrapped up the first half efforts when Morris from another set piece headed just over from Kareem Young’s free kick on the right.
Caledonia finally broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute through Armstrong and moments later, Joe Public standout midfielder Trent Noel was denied by the upright after beating Graham at the near post when he made a solo attempt from the left side in the 64th minute.
Teammate Andre Toussaint followed up with a low shot on target in the 72nd minute after a neat exchange between himself and Yu Hoshide, however Graham gathered comfortably.
Seconds later Hoshide was played by Kerry Baptiste, however the Japanese midfielder powerfully struck low efforts skidded just wide of the far post.
Joe Public 0—2 Caledonia AIA
Akim Armstrong 53’, Abdallah Phillips 90’+1
Teams
Joe Public—Andre Marchan, Kerry Baptiste (capt.) (Marcus Joseph 79th), Trent Noel, Yu Hoshide, Makan Hislop (Red), Jevon Morris, Kareem Young (Yellow) (Micah Lewis 70th), Andre Toussaint (Yellow), Hayden Tinto (Keion Goodridge 28th), Nigel Daniel, Kareem Moses.
Coach—Derek King.
Caledonia AIA—Kevin Graham, Stephan David (capt.), Nuru Abdullah Muhammed, Jean-Luc Rochford (Keon Edwards 90th), Ryan Stewart, Kareem Joseph, Walter Moore, Daniel Cyrus (Yellow), Akim Armstrong (Yellow) (Abdallah Phillips 85th), Densill Theobald, Hayden Vincent (Conrad Smith 76th).
Coach—Jamal Shabazz.
Saturday 08 January 2011
Ato Boldon Stadium
Police FC vs W Connection—6pm
FC SouthEnd vs Defence Force—8pm
Larry Gomes Stadium
North East Stars vs St. Ann’s Rangers—6pm
