Buoyed by its capture of the Rawle Fletcher (Round One) trophy in the 2015/2016 Digicel T&T Pro League season and a 4-0 bashing St Ann’s Rangers led by a beaver trick from captain. Jerwyn Balthazar, Defence Force will be keen to continue its winning momentum when matches resume today.
However, Defence Force can expect to have things much tougher this time out as it come up against an improving Play Whe San Juan Jabloteh in the feature match of a double-header at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya from 8pm. Two hours earlier, Police FC and cellar-placed Morvant Caledonia United will meet in the first match at Macoya.
Currently, the Army/Coast-Guard combination lead the table with 24 points from 11 matches, three more than defending champions Central FC followed by Japs North East Stars, DirecTV W Connection, Police FC and Jabloteh with 20, 19, 18 and 17 points respectively. And victory tonight for the Marvin Gordon-coached Defence Force will help open a gap over one of its main title contenders so far this season.
But while Defence Force will be considered favourites against Jabloteh, which is coming off a Shock 1-0 loss to Morvant Caledonia United, they “Teteron Men” know all too well it will be foolish to think it will be a stroll in the park, as Jabloteh has proven to be spoilers in the recent past.
Police FC will also be desperate to get its campaign back on track after falling 2-4 to W Connection on Saturday with victory against the struggling Morvant Caledonia United, which has only picked up two wins from 11 matches, but won its last outing on Friday night.
Down at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva, Central FC and W Connection will be fancied to pick up wins against a resurgent Club Sando and Pt Fortin Civic respectively as they seek to keep up the pressure on Defence Force, winners of its last three matches on the trot
Central FC which made a clean sweep of the Rawle Fletcher (Round One), Akeem Adams (Round Two) and Kevon Carter (Round Three) trophies which were introduced last season in honour of the late players, enroute to claiming the overall league crown goes into its 6pm clash with Club Sando high on confidence after crushing Pt Fortin Civic 7-0 on Friday last at the same venue with Jason Marcano scoring a treble.
On the other hand, Club Sando was narrowly beaten, 1-0 by North East Stars which will host St Ann’s Rangers in the day’s early match at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar from 3.30pm. In the second match at Couva, W Connection clashes with Pt Fortin Civic.
Results
Digicel Pro League 2015-16
Round Two Match Day Two results:
Friday:
Morvant Caledonia United 1 (Sheldon Holder 81st) vs San Juan Jabloteh 0
Defence Force 4 (Jerwyn Balthazar 4th, 26th, 45th, 64th) vs St Ann’s Rangers 0
North East Stars 1 (Gorean Highley 71st) vs Club Sando 0
Central FC 7 (Jason Marcano 11th, 23rd, 43rd, Ataulla Guerra 17th, Marcus Joseph 64th, Ricardo John 77th, Sean De Silva 86th) vs Pt Fortin Civic 0
Saturday:
W Connection 4 (own goal 2nd, Shahdon Winchester 4th, Neil Benjamin Jr 35th, Jomal Williams 81st) vs Police FC 2 (Makesi Lewis 27th, Dexter Alleyne 58th)
Current T&T Pro League standings:
Teams P W D L F A Pts
Defence Force 11 7 3 1 33 7 24
Central Fc 11 6 3 2 25 9 21
N/East Stars 11 6 2 3 18 19 20
W Connection 11 5 4 2 21 10 19
Police FC 11 5 3 3 27 22 18
S/J Jabloteh 11 5 2 4 19 14 17
Club Sando 11 3 1 7 9 21 10
Pt Fortin Civic 11 3 1 7 12 25 10
St Ann’s Rangers 11 2 2 7 9 27 8
Morvant Caledonia 11 2 1 8 9 28 7
Today’s matches:
Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar:
North East Stars vs St Ann’s Rangers, 3:30 pm
Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya:
Police FC vs Morvant Caledonia United, 6 pm
San Juan Jabloteh vs Defence Force, 8 pm
Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva:
Central FC vs Club Sando, 6 pm
W Connection vs Pt Fortin Civic, 8 pm