Defence Force has moved within two points of Ascension Football League leaders Terminix La Horquetta Rangers with a convincing 5-0 thrashing of Cunupia FC when action in the tournament continued at the Arima Velodrome on Saturday evening.
Central FC has also caused some major adjustments in the bottom half of the standings by whipping a battling Moruga FC 5-2 for their first win of the season. The Central Sharks, as they are affectionately called by their fans, have been focused on rebuilding, having had to readjust its roster due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But on Saturday they got more than they bargained for with Kesean St Rose scoring a hat-trick in the 20th, 51st and 77th minutes to spearhead the win.
Starting at second-from-the-bottom, St Rose first galloped on to a through-ball to slot the ball past the advancing goalkeeper in the 20th minute. Moruga, however, equalised in the 38th minute when lanky striker Keruille Jeremiah turned in a left-side centre.
The goal was the first of two by the big Morugan striker following a disastrous start to the season.
St Rose though dominated the proceedings and despite his miniature size, he rose high to head home powerfully to restore his team’s advantage at 2-1 in the 51st minute.
Jeremiah led a determined fightback for the team from the deep southland by levelling the scores at 2-2 for a second time in the 54th minute, but the Sharks pulled away thereafter with a 65th-minute item from Romario Burke, before St Rose got his hat-trick to send to score to 4-2.
Renaldo Francois then drilled the final nail in the Moruga coffin with his goal in the 85th minute. The result saw Central FC move from second-to-last on the 10-team chart to seventh with five points from six matches.
Moruga for all their fight remains rooted at the cellar position without a win.
At the top, however, La Horquetta Rangers continue to lead but now they have to keep their eyes open for the army/coast-guard combination team which got a double strike from national standout Reon Moore in hammering Cunupia FC 5-0 in the feature game at the Velodrome.
Moore in the 10th minute benefited from an unforgivable mistake from goalkeeper Kevin Graham, as he failed to hold on to a routine cross. The ball dropped enticingly in front of a gaping goal for Moore to fire in for the early 1-0 lead.
Later, Justin Sadoo took the ball down the right flank and centred for Jameel Boatswain to collect and shot past a surprisingly stagnant Graham.
Cunupia, with an unusually quiet Kevon “Showtime” Woodley on the pitch, failed to offer any resistance to the army’s dominance.
Thereafter, Moore got his second goal on the night when he was picked out by Shakeel Bertrand’s centre from the right flank.
With the game heading to the end with the Army 4-0 up, Graham somehow found himself well outside of the 18-yard box during a Defence Force raid. And with Moore now being given an opportunity at his hat-trick, his attempt at goal from about 24 yards out, was handled by Graham, forcing the referee to hand him a straight red card for the violation.
This development led to more troubles for Cunupia who had to sacrifice Woodley by putting him in goal for the resulting free-kick, having used up all their substitutions.
The prolific striker now turn goalkeeper went low for a powerful drive by Dylon King from the kick, but it took a wicked deflection off one of his defenders before flying into the back of the net.
Cunupia will have to go back to the drawing board as they prepare to face Deportivo PF on Saturday at the same venue.
Standings
Place*Teams*P*W*D*L*F*A*GD*Pts
1*Terminix Rangers*6*5*1*0*26*9*17*16
2*Defence Force FC*6*4*2*0*15*3*12*14
3*Cunupia FC*6*4*0*2*14*10*4*12
4*Police FC*5*4*0*1*14*5*9*12
5*Deportivo PF*6*2*2*2*8*7*1*8
6*Real West Fort*6*2*1*3*7*15*-8*7
7*Central FC*6*1*2*3*9*14*-5*5
8*Central Soccer World*6*1*1*4*5*12*-7*4
9*AC Port of Spain*5*0*3*2*7*11*-4*3
10*Moruga FC*6*0*0*6*4*23*-19*0
