Trinidad and Tobago Premier Football League (TTPFL) table-toppers AC PoS (21 points) stretched their lead to four points on Friday night, when they got a massive 5-1 win over Prisons FC (12 points) at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
Playing the second game of a double-header, AC PoS were relentless against the sixth-placed Prisons outfit, and they put the game well out of reach by the 37th minute – jumping out to an emphatic 4-0 lead. AC PoS forward Isaiah "Bongo" Leacock was in a poaching mood in front of goal, and he bagged a first-half hat-trick with his sharp instincts in the box on full display.
Leacock, who featured in TTPFL's tier two last season, opened the scoring for the league leaders in the 14th minute when he squeezed a looping shot over goalkeeper Kahlil Oliver from a tight angle on the left side of the area.
With AC PoS' high-pressing style forcing Prisons into several errors in their own half, the hosts dominated proceedings and looked threatening with every wave of attack. In the 19th minute, Leacock doubled his and AC PoS' tally with a close-range header after a Prisons defender valiantly blocked a goal-bound effort from AC PoS captain Duane Muckette.
The league leaders were running an early riot against the Prisons team, and the servicemen seemed to have no answers. In the 25th minute, AC PoS defender Malik Mieres got his team's third goal with a close-range header of his own following a left-side corner from John-Paul Rochford.
Leacock sealed his hat-trick in the 37th minute with a typical poacher's item, when he tucked away a rebound from a few yards out following an initial goal-saving block by a Prisons defender. With his third goal, Leacock took his season's tally to six goals, and went level with Defence Force attacker Brent Sam atop the TTPFL's goal-scoring charts.
AC PoS took their feet off the gas in the second half, and Prisons showed fight and quality in the attacking third upon the resumption after making a few changes to their forward line at halftime. Prisons substitute Jeremiah Vidale thumped the AC PoS bar with a venomous right-footed shot in the 50th minute, before fellow substitute Nathaniel Perouse pulled a goal back eight minutes later with a shot which deflected off veteran defender Radanfah Abu Bakr.
Perouse and Vidale combined well in the attacking third, but AC PoS were large and in charge in Mucurao. The "Capital Boys" put the icing on the cake in the 79th minute, when Muckette calmly placed a shot into the bottom corner following a counter-attack.
In the first game of the double-header, Nicholas Dillon and Soca Warriors winger Real Gill found the back of the net for Tiger Tanks Club Sando (17 points), who earned a 2-1 win against Caledonia (six points). Dillon gave Sando the lead just before the half, when he slid in a right-footed shot after receiving a slick back heel pass from defender Jamal Jack in the final third.
Caledonia equalised in the 51st minute through San Juan North Secondary standout Lindell Sween, who slammed in a rebound after custodian Miles Goodman stopped his initial penalty effort.
Gill, who is set to join United Soccer League (USL) team Northern Colorado Hailstorm, sealed the points for Sando in the 77th minute when he sweeped in a right-footed shot from inside the area as the visitors pounced on a dreadful turnover from Caledonia defender Carlyle Mitchell.
Sando consolidated fourth spot on the 11-team table, with Caledonia remaining in eight.
At the Mahaica Sporting Complex in Point Fortin, home team Point Fortin (11 points) left it extremely late against Tobago's 1976 FC Phoenix (six points) to eke out a 2-1 win.
Civic defender Andre Ettienne dramatically scored a winner in the fourth minute of stoppage-time to hand the seventh-placed Point their third win of the season. Earlier, either team scored a penalty in the first half to go into the game locked at 1-1. Ettienne's late heroics ensured the points would not be split.
TTFPL tier one standings:
Team*GP*W*D*L*GF*GA*GD*Pts
1.AC PoS*8*7*0*1*24*6*18*21
2.Police FC*8*5*2*1*17*6*11*17
3.Defence Force FC*8*5*2*1*18*8*10*17
4.Club Sando*8*5*2*1*13*6*7*17
5.La Horquetta Rangers*7*4*0*3*14*10*4*12
6.Prisons FC*9*4*0*5*14*23*-9*12
7.Point Fortin Civic*8*3*2*3*12*10*2*11
8.Caledonia*8*2*0*6*10*14*-4*6
9.1976 FC Phoenix*8*2*0*6*11*19*-8*6
10.Eagles FC*7*1*2*4*6*11*-5*5
11.Central FC*7*0*0*7*4*30*-26*0
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