Glen hits hat-trick in Stars’ victory

Former T&T striker Cornell Glen took the spotlight yet again when he bagged a hat-trick on Friday night, to carry his team, North East Stars, to a simple 3-1 victory over a rock-bottom and struggling T&TEC, in Digicel T&T Pro League action, at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya.

The match opened for the clash of the giants, where leader Defence Force dropped DirecTV W Connection 2-1 to remain out of sight at the top of the standings. But, it was the Soca Warriors World Cup 2006 striker Glen, who gave the national team selectors something to think about as he added his hat-trick to a brace, which he scored against W Connection two match-days ago. 

The hat-trick put the former San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) forward on eight goals for the season. His efforts also put Stars into third spot, whilst relegating the defending champion W Connection into fourth. All three of Glen’s goals were scored in the first half and he opened as early as the third minute when the 32-year-old confidently slotted home a close range effort past T&TEC’s custodian Darryl Francis. 

His second came in the 28th through a deflected strike, which went inevitably goal bound, before he wrapped up all three points in the 41st with a confident curling shot from a distance which left the goalkeeper begging for a touch. It felt like only a matter of time before Glen would secure a hat-trick, after he came desperately close to another couple more goals, before he finally finished them off.

Just 10 minutes before North East Stars’ third, T&TEC got a rare effort into the net, albeit again via a deflection from a free-kick struck by midfielder Daniel Garcia. T&TEC was faced with one half-chance to climb back into the match in the second half, after the goal-scorer Garcia struck from a distance just after the hour-mark. The “Electricity Boys” looked slightly more composed and confident in the second period, but a real lack of urgency in attack saw it denied a point. 

T&TEC remains rooted at the bottom of the table with four points from 13 matches; with 39 goals conceded and just a solitary win. Stars, meanwhile, secured its third win in four matches. Its last defeat was against Defence Force on January 11. Defence Force, winner on the night against W Connection, has not lost a match since October (4-2 to Caledonia AIA). 

While it was not as humiliating as the 5-1 whipping it inflicted against the “Savonetta Boys” in both teams’ last league encounter, it was yet another vital victory for the “Armymen” which inches closer to its second league title in three years. Both of Defence Force’s goals came through national team players and the league’s top scorers, who were on target just moments within each other close to the end of the first half. 

Kevon Carter finished off a wonderful team effort in the 40th minute for his ninth goal of the campaign, before the league’s leading scorer Devorn Jorsling (12 goals) added the second in the 43rd through a classic free-kick. Connection pulled one back through a strike from defender Joevin Jones just after the hour mark. Defence Force, which boasts an uncharacteristically potent ratio of three goals per match was, in fact, somewhat off the pace against W Connection, which too proved to be well short of its best. W Connection, record champion of the T&T Pro League ended with a second loss in three matches. 

The win put coach Ross Russell’s “Teteron Boys” nine points ahead of the nearest challenger, CFU Caribbean Club Cup winner Caledonia AIA, which was in action last night against Central FC.

Results

Friday’s Results
Defence Force 2 (Kevon Carter 40th, Devorn Jorsling 43rd) v W Connection 1 (Joevin Jones 62nd)

North East Stars 3 (Cornell Glen 3rd, 28th, 41st) v T&TEC 1 (Daniel Garcia 31st)

Standings

Teams    P    W    D    L    F    A    Pts
Defence Force    13    10    2    1    39    15    32
Caledonia AIA    11    7    2    2    33    15    23
North East Stars    12    5    5    2    17    11    20
W Connection    12    5    4    3    21    13    19
Central FC    10    3    3    4    12    18    12
Police FC    12    2    4    6    12    19    10;
St Ann’s Rangers    11    2    3    6    13    26    9
T&TEC    13    1    1    11    9    39    4