Discarded Soca Warriors striker Devorn Jorsling notched his fourth hat-trick of the season to lead Defence Force over Pt Fortin Civic 4-2 in a battle for third spot in the Digicel T&T Pro League at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella on Sunday.
With current leaders and title favourites Central FC (49 points) and defending champions, DirecTV W Connection (43 points), locked in a two team battle for the $1,000,000 title, the battle is on for a respectbale finish, with Defence Force and Pt Fortin Civic, starting the day level on 33 points, one more than Japs North East Stars while fifth placed Play Whe San Juan Jabloteh, with 28 points also had an outside chance of a top three finish.
However, Jorsling and his team-mates, coming off an impressive 4-1 spanking of W Connection proved to be touch above their opponents at Marabella, to take control of third spot.The burly striker put the "Teteron Boys" ahead in the 37th minute with a cool finish from inside the 18-yard box past 'keeper Akini Adams off a feed from captain Jerwyn Balthazar.
But that lead lasted less than a minute as veteran striker Andre Toussaint got Civic level before the break when he also netted from close up past goalkeeper Sheldon Clarke after the latter palmed a Marcus Joseph goalward effort into his path.Ten minutes after the restart, Clarke was beaten yet again after making another excellent save.
This time, the Defence Force custodian did well to push a Shackiel Henry drive onto the crossbar, but to his dismay, the ball ricocheted to Petrotrin's Glenn Sutton to fire into an open net.Five minutes later, winger Kerry Joseph got Defence Force back on level terms, latching onto a pass from substitute Akeem Roach and firing past Adams.
Joseph then put his team back in front in the 66th minute at 3-2 and seven minutes later, he completed his treble, with another trademark free kick that left Adams a spectator.Four minutes, from the final whistle Sutton almost got a third for Pt Fortin, but this time around, Clarke pushed his attempt around the post for a corner from which he kept out a Weslie John effort as well.
And at the other end, Jorsling did manage to get the ball in the back of the net on the stroke of full-time, however, it was ruled offside.However, his three-goal outing was good enough to carry his league best tally to 19 goals, five more than Pt Fortin's Joseph and also ahead on the all-time Pro League scoring list with 134 goals, three more than Jabloteh's Kerry Baptiste.
In the day's other match, at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar, Caledonia and Jabloteh battled to a 2-2 draw in which Baptite netted his 131st league goal, and ninth of the season.
Results & standings
Sunday's Digicel T&T Pro League D/Force 4 (Devorn Jorsling 37th, 66th, 73rd, Kerry Joseph 60th) vs Pt Fortin Civic 2 (Andre Toussaint 38th, Glenn Sutton 55th)
Caledonia 2 (Nathan Lewis 18th, Purnell Schultz 65th) vs Jabloteh 2 (Nkosi David 45'+1, Kerry Baptiste 61st)
Standings:
Teams P W D L F A Pts
Central FC 22 15 4 3 56 16 49
W Connection 21 13 4 4 41 15 43
D/Force 22 11 3 8 44 29 36
Pt Fortin 22 10 3 9 43 35 33
N/East Stars 21 9 5 7 22 21 32
Jabloteh 22 7 7 8 30 38 28
Police 22 7 6 9 31 44 27
Caledonia 22 7 5 10 29 40 26
Rangers 22 0 1 21 18 76 1
Top scorers:
19 - Devorn Jorsling (Defence Force)
14 - Marcus Joseph (Pt Fortin Civic)
13 - Ataulla Guerra (Central FC), Purnell Schultz (Caledonia)
11 - Jerrel Britto (W Connection)
9 - Marvin Oliver (Central FC), Kerry Baptiste (Jabloteh),
8 - Willis Plaza (Central FC), Jamille Boatswain (Pt Fortin)
Upcoming League matches
Round Three Match Day Eight
Friday 24 April 2015
Central FC vs Pt Fortin Civic
W Connection vs Caledonia AIA
North East Stars vs St Ann's Rangers
Defence Force vs San Juan Jabloteh
Tuesday April 28:
Venue: Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva
W Connection vs Police FC, 6 pm
Central FC vs North East Stars, 8 pm
Round Three Match Day Nine
Friday May 1:
Defence Force vs St Ann's Rangers
San Juan Jabloteh vs W Connection
Saturday May 2:
North East Stars vs Caledonia AIA
Point Fortin Civic vs Police FC