National defender Marcus James scored a quick first-half double as Defence Force battled past Queen's Park CC in a key T&T Hockey Board Men's Championship Division encounter at the National Hockey Centre, Tacarigua on Sunday.
Starting the day, nine points adrift of leaders' Notre Dame but with three matches in hand, the Parkites were eager to get a win and got the best start possible when national forward Matthew Tang Nian netted in the 12th minute.
However, seven minutes later, former national stand-out Neil Lashley got the Army/Coast-Guard combination on level terms before James found the back of the net, in the 28th and 29th minute for a 3-1 half-time advantage.
The second-half was a much tighter contest, but with eight minutes left Tang Nian grabbed a second to reduce the deficit to 3-2, however, Defence Force held on until the final whistle.
The win was the fourth in seven matches for Defence Force to move to fifth spot with 12 points, 18 behind Notre Dame which has played five matches more while Queen's Park stayed second with 21 points from 10 matches followed by defending champion Petrotrin with 19 from 12 matches and Courts Malvern with 15 from a match less.
The Women's Championship Division title race is a two-team battle with Paragon sitting atop the table with 19 points from eight matches, two more than Shandy Carib Magnolias with two matches left for both clubs, while defending champion Notre Dame is a distant third with 12 points.
Ironically, Paragon and Magnolias both have outstanding matches against Courts Malvern, fourth with 10 points from eight matches and the Dames.
The Trinity Divisions are also yet to be decided with Queen's Park and Paradise in the hunt for the men's crown while Magnolias, Paragon and Harvard Checkers are in a three-way tussle for women's honours.
Results
Tuesday:
Trinity Men:
Notre Dame 4 (Justin Beharry 3rd, 9th, Richie Alexander 7th, Keith De Peza) vs Police 0
Monday:
Men's Championship:
Defence Force 3 (Marcus 28th, 29th, Neil Lashley 19th) vs Queen's Park 2 (Matthew Tang Nian 12th, 62nd)
Current standings:
Men's Championship:
Teams P W D L F A Pts
Notre Dame 12 9 1 2 35 16 30
QPCC 10 7 0 3 22 13 21
Petrotrin 12 6 1 5 30 21 19
Malvern 11 5 0 6 19 29 15
D/Force 7 4 0 3 16 17 12
Paragon 11 3 2 6 31 31 11
Paradise 8 2 1 5 14 20 7
Fatima 11 2 1 8 11 30 7
Trinity Men's Division:
QPCC 9 8 0 1 55 7 24
Paradise 7 7 0 0 22 3 21
Notre Dame 9 7 0 2 27 12 21
Paragon 9 5 1 3 29 20 16
Malvern 8 5 1 2 20 10 16
Fatima 9 4 0 5 15 20 12
Shape 8 3 0 5 13 28 9
Carib 8 1 0 7 5 27 3
Police 7 0 0 7 2 26 0
Petrotrin 8 0 0 8 3 38 0
Trinity Women's Division:
Magnolias 5 5 0 0 34 3 15
Paragon 6 4 1 1 12 4 13
Checkers 5 4 0 1 17 2 12
Ventures 7 3 1 3 7 10 10
Notre Dame 6 2 0 4 6 21 6
Police 7 1 2 4 7 24 5
Paradise 6 1 1 4 4 10 4
Malvern 6 1 1 4 12 25 4
Upcoming fixtures
Today
Mixed Veterans: Malvern vs Police, 8pm
Tomorrow
Women's Championship: Harvard Checkers vs Ventures, 7 pm
Men's Championship: Defence Force vs Petrotrin, 8.45 pm
Saturday
Women's Championship: Malvern vs Shandy Carib Magnolias, 4.30 pm
Men's Championship: Paradise vs Queen's Park, 6 pm
Men's Championship: Fatima vs Defence Force, 7.30 pm
Sunday
Men's Championship: Paradise vs Notre Dame, 12.30 pm
Trinity Men: Shape vs Paradise, 2 pm
Women's Championship: Ventures vs Harvard Checkers, 4.30 pm
Women's Championship: Malvern vs Paragon, 6 pm
Men's Championship: QPCC vs Paragon, 7.30 pm