Isaiah Lee's second-half item spared Terminix La Horquetta Rangers some embarrassment, securing a 1-1 draw with Tiger Tanks Club Sando in the T&T Pro League programme on Friday at La Horquetta Recreation ground in Phase II, La Horquatta.
The tied result means that Rangers moved into second place with 10 points, three behind unbeaten leader Defence Force (13) and ahead of Police (10) on goal-difference, nine compared to three.
Rangers entered round one match-day seven, on the back of three wins and two losses but they struggled to make the most of their superiority at home against ninth-place Club Sando, which has six points (one win, three draws and 3 losses).
Club Sando quieted the Rangers supporters early on, having the host team trailing from the eighth minute with the opening goal being scored by former national player Hughton Hector.
Rangers tried to get a grip on the proceedings but were unable to get the equaliser, allowing Club Sando to go in at the half with the 1-0 lead.
On the resumption, neither side could find the back of the net until Lee's 64th-minute item grabbed the vital point for Rangers. After conceding the goal, the southern-based team was unable to regain its lead and had to settle with sharing points.
Back in Port-of-Spain at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, W Connection eased past Athletic Club (AC) Port of Spain, 4-0 and Morvant/Caledonia United was held to a 1-1 draw with Point Fortin Civic.
Dimitrie Apai netted a pair of goals for the winner while his teammates Jevaughn Humphrey and Neil Benjamin each added one for the fifth in the standings, W Connection.
Humphrey opened the scoring in the 21st to give his team a 1-0 at the halfway mark. AC Port of Spain was hoping to recover in the second half but there was no such luck as the match seemed to be decided by the first-half goal.
Five minutes from time though, Apai found the back of the net to send W Connection up by two. Four minutes later, Benjamin put his name on the scoresheet to have the leading side ahead 3-0 but Connection was not done yet as Apai (90th+1) put the icing on the cake in added-on time
In the other encounter, Kerville Jeremiah opened the scoring in the 22nd to give eighth-place Civic the 1-0 advantage which the other southern-based held on to at the half. It was some 24 minutes into the second session that Tev Lawrence produced the equalling goal in the 69th for the fourth-place team on the table.
RESULTS
Morvant/Caledonia United 1 (Tev Lawrence 69th) vs Point Fortin Civic 1 (Kerville Jeremiah 22nd)
AC Port of Spain 0 vs W Connection 4 (Jevaughn Humphrey 21st, Dimitrie Apai 85th, 90th+1, Neil Benjamin 89th)
Rangers 1 (Isaiah Lee 64th) vs Club Sando 1 (Hughton Hector 8th)
Today's Match (Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar)
Police FC vs Defence Force, 4 pm
Latest Standings
Place*Teams*P*W*D*L*GF*GA*GD*Points
1.Defence Force FC*5*4*1*0*8*4*4*13
2.Terminix La Horquetta Rangers*6*3*1*2*18*9*9*10
3.Police FC*6*3*1*2*9*6*3*10
4.Morvant Caledonia United*6*2*3*1*6*5*1*9
5.W Connection*5*2*2*1*9*4*5*8
6.Central FC*6*2*2*2*7*7*0*8
7.AC Port-of-Spain*6*2*1*3*7*15*-8*7
8.Point Fortin Civic*5*1*3*1*6*5*1*6
9.Club Sando*7*1*3*3*5*9*-4*6
10.San Juan Jabloteh*6*1*2*3*2*9*-7*5
11.Cunupia FC*4*0*1*3*3*7*-4*1