Former Finland-based national midfielder Shahdon Winchester scored a goal in each half as DirecTV W Connection whipped San Juan Jabloteh 4-1 to extend its lead at the top of the Digicel T&T Pro League table at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya, on Tuesday.
Leslie Russell and Joevin Jones, added the other goals for the three-time Pro League champion to push its points tally to 29 from 11 matches, 12 clear of idle North East Stars while Pt Fortin Civic trounced St Ann's Rangers in the opener at Macoya, thanks to a hat-trick from national striker Marcus Joseph, his second in succession.
Joseph, scorer of a hat-trick in Saturday's 5-0 trouncing of Police FC at the Mahaica Oval in Point Fotin, scored his goals in the sixth, 56th and 73rd minute, the last of which from the penalty-spot to move his club three spots up the nine-team table. Pt Fortin moves to third place with 16 points, two more than Caledonia AIA and Police, after their 1-1 draw at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.
With Stars not in action on the night, W Connection had a golden chance to put some more distance between itself and the chasing pack and led by Winchester, who opened the scoring as early as the 12th minute the "Savonetta Boys" extended their unbeaten start to the league campaign, to 12 matches.
Winchester, who is back in W Connection colours on a short stint before heading back to Finland's FF Jaro in under two months time, volleyed in his team first goal past goalkeeper Kevin Dodds after getting a favourable bounce inside the area.
Despite their low position on the table, Jabloteh did well to keep W Connection from adding to its tally until the 31st minute when former Jabloteh utility player Leslie Joel Russell netted from close range after his former employers failed to clear a Silvio Spann left-sided corner.
Nine minutes after the restart the match was all but over as a Winchester got his second and W Connection's third after slipping a shot past Dodds to cap off a powerful run.
Two minutes later Dodds' goal was under threat again from in-form Kurt Frederick, but luckily for Jabloteh his effort canoned off the crossbar, and three minutes later Jabloteh finally had something to cheer about when defender, Jevon Morris pulled a goal-back with a long range effort past goalkeeper Aquelius Sylvester.
In the 74th minute, substitute Neil Benjamin Jr also had an effort on the Jabloteh goal from some distance that just went wide, before Alvin Jones set up his brother, national midfielder Joevin Jones for W Connection's fourth item, three minutes into injury time.
But while W Connection stormed to yet another win, it was Pt Fortin Civic's Joseph that was the talk of the afternoon.
Joseph, playing at the home of his former club Joe Public's artificial surface, fired his team ahead in the sixth minute with a trademark left-footed blast past goalkeeper Terrence Lewis.
Sylvester Teesdale, Bevon Bass, Akeem Redhead as well as Joseph, all came close to adding to their team's lead before the interval, but somehow, the score managed to remain 1-0.
Five minutes into the second-half, St Ann's Rangers' Kennedy Isles almost pulled his team level against the run of play, but his effort was tipped over by goalkeeper Marvin Phillip.
Pt Fortin then regained control of the contest and in the 56th minute, Joseph finally added to his team's lead and in the 73rd minute, he sealed all three points by completing his hat-trick from the penalty-spot after Jabloteh's Jelani Peters was whistled for a foul on Redhead by referee Gyasi Mc Donald.
Down at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Caledonia missed out on all three points after Jameel Perry cancelled out Densil Theobald's early item.
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Results:
Pt Fortin Civic 3 (Marcus Joseph 6th, 55th, 74th) vs St Ann's Rangers 0
W Connection 4 (Shahdon Winchester 12th, 54th, Leslie Russell 51st,
Joevin Jones 93rd) vs San Juan Jabloteh 1 (Jevon Morris 59th)
Police 1 (Jameel Perry) vs Caledonia AIA 1 (Densil Theobald)
Current standings:
Teams P W D L F A Pts
W Connection 11 9 2 0 25 5 29
N/East Stars 10 5 2 3 11 6 17
Pt Fortin CC 11 5 1 5 17 14 16
Caledonia 11 3 5 3 17 14 14
Police 11 4 2 5 16 19 14
Defence Force 8 4 1 3 15 14 13
Central FC 9 3 4 2 13 11 13
Jabloteh 10 3 1 6 17 25 10
Rangers 11 1 0 10 11 34 3
Matches
Tomorrow:
Venue: Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo
San Juan Jabloteh vs Police, 6 pm
North East Stars vs W Connection, 8 pm
Saturday:
Pt Fortin Civic vs Central FC, Mahaica Oval, Pt Fortin, 3.30 pm