Andre Ettienne scored a long-range stunner after team-mate Ezekiel Kesar's hat-trick to secure a thrilling 4-3 win for Heritage Petroleum Point Fortin Civic over defending champions Defence Force in the feature match of a double-header at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Saturday night.
With the loss, the Army/Coast-Guard combination which captured both league and knockout titles last season stayed third on the 11-club table with 26 points from 14 matches, four adrift of leaders AC Port-of-Spain who have a match in hand as well held to short 2-2 draw by previously pointless Central FC on Friday night, while Miscellaneous Police is second with 28 points following a 1-1 draw with Tiger Tanks Club Sando also on Friday.
At Mucurapo, the clash between Defence Force and Point Fortin Civic got off to a frenetic start with an on-target Hughton Hector free-kick through a five-man wall being brilliantly kept out by goalkeeper Christopher Biggette diving low to his right, only for the rebound to fall right into the path of the onrushing Kesar who tucked away the ball into an open net for a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute.
A few minutes later Biggette was called into action again, but this time he did much better, diving full stretch to his left to keep out a low drive from Rondell Phillip that was destined for the bottom corner of the goal.
At the other end of the field, in a similar fashion to Civic's opener, a long-range right-footed stinging free-kick from Nathaniel Garcia was parried down by goalkeeper Terrence Lewis and Shaquille Holder was first to react to stab home the rebound to get the Army/Coast-Guard combination on even terms in the 25th minute.
Five minutes later, Holder was tripped over in the 18-yard box by defender Brent Plenty, and from the 12-yard spot, Matthew Woo Ling slotted in a left-footed effort with Lewis going the wrong way for a 2-1 Defence Force lead.
Rivaldo Coryat, was then denied a chance to extend Defence Force's advantage with Lewis keeping out his fierce left-footed blast on the first post smartly kept out by Lewis, and two minutes before the interval, Civic managed to level the match at 2-2 with a bit of fortune when a left-footed effort from former India-based striker Marcus Joseph, took a wicked deflection off of team-mate Kesar, wrong-footing Biggette and into the net to the delight of the southerners for both teams to go into the interval level.
Within two minutes after the restart, the Reynold Carrington-coached Civic regained the lead at 3-2 when a right-sided cross managed to find the feet of an unmarked Kesar who curled a left-footed effort into the far right corner past the full stretch dive of Biggette.
Defence Force's Shaquille Bertrand then headed overbar from a Woo Ling corner to draw Defence Force level in the 67th minute while Isaiah Thompson missed a chance for Civic's fourth goal four minutes later firing onto the base of the right post from less than ten yards out after a weaving solo-run, with Kesar firing the rebound into the side netting from an acute angle.
Three minutes later, Defence Force made Civic pay for that missed effort when a failed attempt at a clearance by defender Justin Cornwall fell to an unmarked Kaihim Thomas, who replaced Bertrand in the 72nd minute, and he hammered home the loose ball to level the match at 3-3.
But there was still another twist to the contest, as after another n0-call for a foul on Woo Ling was waived off by Sobers, the clearance upfield fell to Andre Ettienne in his own half, and after taking two touches on the ball, the latter rifled a shot from about 50 yards over the head of a Biggette who was off his life to nestle into the back of the net to snatch the lead again at 4-3.
The Army/Coast-Guard combination then pushed numbers forward in search of yet another equaliser with Leshawn Roberts heading overbar from about eight yards out to squander his team's final chance, and hand Civic the win.
In the opening match at Mucurapo, Kevon 'Showtime' Woodley netted a second-half brace in the 57th and 75th minute while former national defender Carlyle Mitchell also netted in the 70th in their 3-0 defeat of Eagles FC,
And yesterday, at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Prison Service got goals from Juma Clarence in the 24th, and Trevis Byron in the 91st minute to blank host 1976 FC Phoenix, who entered the match on the back of impressive wins over Defence Force (2-0), and Terminix La Horquetta Rangers (2-1) respectively.
The league now takes an 11-day break for the FIFA International Match Window during which time T&T faces Canada on March 23 in the Copa America Play-in match in Texas, USA from 4 pm.
Weekend's Results
Sunday
Prison Service 2 (Juma Clarence 24th, Trevis Byron 90+1) vs 1976 FC Phoenix 0
Saturday
Caledonia FC 3 (Kevon Woodley 57th, 75th, Carlyl Mitchell 70th) vs Eagles FC 0
Point Fortin Civic 4 (Ezekiel Kesar 8th, 42nd, 47th, Andre Ettienne 85th) vs Defence Force 3 (Shaquille Holder 25th, Matthew Woo Ling 30th pen, Kaihim Thomas 83rd)
Friday
Central FC 2 (Saleem Henry 38th pen, Dominic Douglas 56th) vs AC Port-of-Spain 2 (Che Benny 79th pen, Saydrel Lewis 81st)
Police 1 (Jamal Jack o.g 61st) vs Club Sando 1 (Jamal Jack 79th)
Latest Standings
Pos*Teams*P*W*D*L*F*A*Pts
1. AC PoS*13*9*3*1*36*14*30
2. Police*14*8*4*2*29*12*28
3. Defence Force*14*8*2*4*29*16*26
4. L.H. Rangers*14*7*2*5*27*20*23
5. Club Sando*14*6*4*4*20*16*22
6. Prison Service*15*7*0*8*22*30*21
7. Point Fortin Civic*14*5*5*4*22*15*20
8. 1976 Phoenix*13*5*1*7*18*24*16
9. Caledonia FC*14*4*4*6*21*20*16
10. FC Eagles*14*3*4*7*15*21*13
11. Central FC*15*0*1*14*8*57*1
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