Five different players were on target as Digicel T&T Pro League leader, Central FC, overcame a sluggish first-half to beat 10-men Pt Fortin Civic 5-2 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Friday night and moved to within a point of claiming a their maiden League crown, which carries with it a $1 million prize.
In their final match on Tuesday, Central FC will come up against Japs North East Stars at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, two hours after second placed defending champions DirecTV W Connection faces Police FC in a must-win match at the same venue.W Connection will need to win to have any chance of catching Central FC, which can still claim the crown even if it falls in its final match as it holds a superior goal-difference of 43, well clear of W Connection, which stands at 27.
However, W Connection did its best on Friday in an earlier fixture to extend the title race, at least for another day with a 2-1 win over Caledonia AIA at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella.Buoyed by reaching the Caribbean Football Union Club Championship semifinal stage carded for next month against Central FC after topping its three-team round-robin group at home, W Connection entered the match in confident mood.
They took the lead through Jomal Williams in the 14th minute which they held until Conrod Smith drew Caledonia level in the 54th, before former national youth striker bagged his 12th goal of the season five minutes later to clinch the win.With the victory, W Connection pushed its points tally to 46 points, three behind Central FC ahead of its encounter with Pt Fortin.
It took Central FC only three minutes though, to open its account, with utility player Jamal Jack heading home past goalkeeper Marvin Phillip from a Sean De Silva free-kick.Central FC's chances of victory were then boosted six minutes later when referee Rodphin Harris, sent Pt Fortin captain Andre Ettienne for an early shower with a straight red-card for a late two-legged tackle on Ataulla Guerra near the touchline.
But against the odds, Pt Fortin Civic stormed back to take a 2-1 lead with an unmarked Shackiel Henry beating goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams from close-up off an Andre Toussaint feed in the 18th, and four minutes after the break the Central FC goalkeeper was beaten by a deflected Marcus Joseph strike from 20 yards out off the legs of Elton John.
However, that lead lasted only for three minutes and Kaydion Gabriel struck a laser from the right to find the back of the net and tie the score at 2-2.After being denied by goalkeeper Phillips a number of times, Central finally regained the lead through striker Willis Plaza with ten minutes left in the contest to calm the nerves of coach, Englishman Terry Fenwick.
Dwight Quintero, a former national youth striker made certain of all three points by scoring in the 86th for a 4-2 cushion, while Guerra added a fifth item, one minute into injury time.In the first match at Couva, St Ann's Rangers picked up only its second point of the season while denting North East Stars' chances of claiming third spot in a 1-1 draw.
Results & standings
Friday's results:
�2 W Connection 2 (Jomal Williams 14th, Jerrel Britto 55th) vs Caledonia AIA 1 (Conrod Smith 59th)
�2 North East Stars 1 (Keron Cummings 26th) vs St Ann's Rangers 1 (Sayid Freitas 44th)
�2 Central FC 5 (Jamal Jack 3rd, Kaydion Gabriel 52nd, Willis Plaza 80th, Dwight Quintero 86th, Ataulla Guerra 90'+1) vs Pt Fortin Civic 2 (Shackiel Henry 18', Marcus Joseph 49')
Current standings:
Teams P W D L F A Pts
Central FC 23 16 4 3 61 18 52
W Connection 22 14 4 4 43 16 46
D/Force 22 11 3 8 44 29 36
Pt Fortin 23 10 3 10 45 40 33
N/East Stars 22 9 6 7 23 22 33
Jabloteh 22 7 7 8 30 38 28
Police 22 7 6 9 31 44 27
Caledonia 23 7 5 11 30 42 26
Rangers 23 0 2 21 19 77