Eastern champion La Horquetta SA and Coosal’s Las Lomas, winner of the Central Zone, both recorded 1-0 wins on the opening day of the Champions of Champions National Super League qualifiers, on Sunday, to take early leads in the six-team standings.
La Horquetta, courtesy of a Keron Clarke strike just six minutes in defeated Goal City (Tobago), at Maracas Recreation Ground, St Joseph, while Las Lomas stunned Southern giant Petrotrin Palo Seco by the same scoreline via a goal from Ronald John moments from full time.
The other two Super League hopefuls, Matura Reunited and QPCC played to a 2-2 draw at Matura Recreation Ground. After trailing 1-0 at half-time from a Joel Hoyte effort in the 23rd minute for Matura, the Parkites crawled back into the match, first from an equalising goal by influential forward Troy Thompson in the 77th minute, and then a dramatic goal from Vladimir Suite two minutes later to give QPCC its first lead of the match.
However, Matura responded in the 83rd minute with an equaliser of its own from Timothy John. The match with each team sharing a point, but with QPCC left with ten players.
Jason Charles was dismissed soon after the last goal for throwing an object at the assistant referee, according to the referee. He was protesting the referees’ decision to allow the equalizing goal to stand, although it appeared that QPCC’s goalkeeper was impeded when John scored for Matura.
At the end of the round, La Horquetta and Las Lomas shared the lead, while QPCC and Matura shared third and fourth. Goal City and Palo Seco are bottom of the table. The latter two teams will contest a mouth-watering clash on Wednesday, in Tobago, at the Plymouth Recreation Ground, from 6 pm. QPCC will be eager for a win when it takes on La Horquetta, at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, simultaneously.
Wednesday’s round of matches will open with a clash between Matura Reunited and Las Lomas, from 3.30 pm, once again at Matura Recreation Ground. After five rounds of matches, only two of the six team will advance to the National Super League.
Results
La Horquetta SA 1 (Keron Clarke 6th) v Goal City FC 0
Coosal’s Las Lomas United 1 (Ronald John 89th) v Petrotrin Palo Seco 0
Matura Reunited 2 (Joel Hoyte 23rd, Timothy John 83rd) v QPCC 2 (Troy Thompson 77th, Vladimir Suite 79th)
Fixtures (tomorrow)
Matura Reunited v Coosal’s Las Lomas United, Matura Recreation Ground, 3.30 pm
Goal City v Petrotrin Palo Seco, Plymouth Recreation Ground, Tobago, 6 pm
QPCC v La Horquetta SA, Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, 6 pm
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