Terminix La Horquetta Rangers will be confident of extending their lead at the top of the ten-club Ascension Football League standings when they come up against Real West Fort in the second match of a double-header at the Phase II Recreation Ground, La Horquetta from 8 pm pn Friday night.
Two hours earlier, Moruga FC, coming off their first point gained this season meets fellow strugglers Central FC in a clash of the bottom two clubs on the table.
However, all eyes will be on Rangers led by Ataulla Guerra and Kadeem Corbin in attack with ten and eight goals to their names, respectively, as they look to repeat their first-round performance against Real West Fort, a 5-2 outcome.
Currently, Rangers lead the table with 32 points from 12 matches, five more than 2019 inaugural tournament winners Defence Force and Police FC, while Deportivo Point Fortin (PF) sits fourth with 24 points.
And with the Army/Coast-Guard combination not in action until Saturday against Cunupia FC in a late match at the Arima Municipal Stadium, from 7 pm, Rangers will be fancied to extend their lead to eight points with five matches left to play at least for 24 hours.
In Saturday's first match, Deportivo PF comes up against Central Soccer World from 5 pm while on Sunday at the Police Training Barracks, Long Circular Road, St James from 5 pm, Police FC welcomes high-flying AC Port-of-Spain, with the latter coming off a stunning 4-3 defeat of Defence Force.
The ten clubs are competing in two rounds of football on 18 match days for a winners prize of $100,000, with second place getting $50,000, and third $25,000.
The tournament was first played in 2019, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition was not held in 2020 and 2021, with this year’s competition being staged with a budget of $3.5 million, with $175,000 in prize money.
Upcoming matches:
Friday (June 24):
Venue: Phase II, La Horquetta Recreation Ground, La Horquetta.
Moruga FC vs Central FC, 6 pm
La Horquetta Rangers vs Real West Fort, 8 pm
Tomorrow
Saturday (June 25):
Venue: Arima Municipal Stadium, Arima.
Deportivo Point Fortin vs Central Soccer World, 5 pm
Defence Force vs Cunupia FC, 7 pm
Sunday (June 26):
Venue: Police Barracks Training Ground, Long Circular, St James.
Police FC vs AC Port-of-Spain, 5 pm
Latest standings
Teams P W D L F A GD Pts
1. La Horquetta Rangers 12 10 2 0 52 16 36 32
2. Defence Force 12 8 3 1 38 11 27 27
3. Police FC 12 9 0 3 32 15 17 27
4. Deportivo PF 12 7 3 2 26 11 15 24
5. AC PoS 12 4 3 5 26 28 -2 15
6. Cunupia FC 12 4 2 6 16 23 -7 14
7. Central Soccer World 12 4 1 7 15 22 -7 13
8. Real West Fort 12 3 2 7 14 30 -16 11
9. Central FC 12 1 3 8 17 38 -21 6
10. Moruga FC 12 0 1 11 7 49 -42 1
Leading scorers
10 - Jameel Boatswain, Brent Sam (Defence Force), Ataulla Guerra (La Horquetta Rangers)
9 - Kevon Woodley (Cunupia FC)
8 - Kadeem Corbin (La Horquetta Rangers)
7 - Reon Moore (Defence Force), Che Benny (AC Port-of-Spain)
6 - Mickaeel Gordon (Police FC), Sedale Mc Clean (AC Port-of-Spain)
5 - Tyrone Charles, Isaiah Lee (La Horquetta Rangers), Keron Cummings (Real West Fort)
4 - Akinola Gregory, Hughton Hector (Deportivo PF), Kemron Purcell, Jabari Mitchell, Kareem Freitas (Police), Romario Burke, Leonardo Da Costa (Central FC), Ross Russell Jr (La Horquetta Rangers), Josimar Belgrave (Real West Fort)
3 - Aikim Andrews Junior Assoon, Real Gill (La Horquetta Rangers), Joel Lewis, Gabriel Nanton (Police FC), Keasean St Rose (Central FC), Kemuel Rivers, Moses Jaikaran (Central Soccer World), Andrei Pacheco (Deportivo PF), Jamali Garcia (Defence Force), Shackiel Henry (Deportivo PF),
2 - Mark Ramdeen, Ezekiel Kesar, Nathaniel Garcia, Isaiah Hudson (Deportivo PF), Jomoul Francois, Jamal Creighton, Daniel David (La Horquetta Ranges), Kerville Jeremiah (Moruga FC), Renaldo Francois, (Central FC), Leandro Da Costa (Central FC), Atiba Charles (Moruga), Ryan Frederick, Nicholas Dillion (Central Soccer World), Kwasi Allen (Cunupia FC), Dwight Quintero (Defence Force), Shawndell Augustus, Jameel Neptune (AC Port-of-Spain), Elijah Belgrave (Police FC)