A double from national midfielder Alvin Jones for Club Sando ensured a 2-1 win over W Connection FC at the Mahaica Sports Complex in Point Fortin, which pushed them back into the second position on the 12-team T&T Premier Football League standings on Sunday.
With the battle for one of the three top spots for the CONCACAF Caribbean Shield (top two teams) and CONCACAF Caribbean Cup (third-place team) tightening with just about two rounds of matches to go, Club Sando, who strengthened its team by signing talented young striker Real Gill from Terminix La Horquetta Rangers last week, did not use his services in the opening half but Jones proved to be a force to be reckoned with all afternoon.
Gleaming with confidence, Jones, in the eighth minute, took down a lifted cross from Acelino Medford on the right side of the W Connection defence and calmly slotted the ball past the advancing goalkeeper Denzil Smith for a 1-0 advantage.
With their strong start, Club Sando enjoyed the better of the exchanges in the early moments that really should have led to another goal in the 31st minute.
This time, Jones' cross from a free-kick on the right side found both Josiah Cooper and Josiah Trimmingham storming inside, however, neither got a touch on the ball, and it rolled out to safety.
W Connection later picked their game up and got the equaliser in the 37th minute. From a right-side cross, striker Jahmalee Barclay's header was pushed wide, and from a resulting goal-mouth scrimmage, the ball rolled nicely for Nathan Quashie to hit hard into the far post for a 1-1 scoreline.
The goal took the teams to the halftime interval, and when they resumed, coach Cornell Glen brought on Gill as an early second-half substitution in the 55th minute. The striker, then on his first touch of the ball, turned past his marker but hit his shot went wide of the post, but it signalled what Club Sando's intentions were.
After a series of constant attacks on the Connection goal area, Club Sando was rewarded for their efforts. Jones, from a free-kick from some 20 yards out, saw his curling effort take a deflection off the wall and it flew past Smith for a 2-1 lead in the 67th minute.
Still, Connection did not lay down and should have equalised for a second time in the 75th minute. From a right-side centre that put Saviola Elva on a one-on-one with goalkeeper Miles Goodman in the Club Sando goal, Elva failed to get the ball past the advancing custodian.
With the win, Club Sando moved to 41 points and ahead of Defence Force as the second-place team. To date, AC Port of Spain leads the standings with 42 points, while the Army Coast-Guard combination team is in third position with 40.
On Monday, Rangers will take on Police FC in a rescheduled fixture at 6 pm at the Phase II Recreation Ground in La Horquetta.
RESULTS
Club Sando 2 (Alvin Jones 8th, 67th) vs W Connection 1 ( Nathan Quashie 37th)
STANDINGS
TEAM*P*W*D*L*F*A*GD*PTS
1*AC PoS*16*14*0*2*45*11*34*42
2*Club Sando*15*13*2*1*36*14*12*41
3*Defence Force*16*13*1*2*38*11*27*40
4*Rangers*15*11*1*3*45*18*27*34
5*Central FC*16*8*1*7*28*29*-1*25
6*Police FC*15*7*1*7*27*26*1*22
7*W Connection*16*5*3*8*15*21*-6*18
8*Point Fortin Civic*15*3*3*9*9*18*-9*12
9*Morvant Caledonia*16*3*2*11*17*40*-23*11
10*Prison Service*16*3*2*11*9*39*-30*11
11*San Juan Jaboloteh*15*2*2*11*15*34*-19*8
12*Cunupia FC*16*2*2*12*9*32*-23*8
