By JOEL BAILEY Thursday, May 28 2009

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HAYDEN TINTO, centre, of Joe Public is tackled by Gerrard Williams, right, during their Digicel Pro League match last Saturday at the Marvin Lee Stadi...

LEADERS SAN Juan Jabloteh kept their advantage in tact, in the Digicel Pro League, despite a 1-1 draw against Caledonia AIA at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya, on Tuesday night as Round One Match Day Five action took place.

Trinidad and Tobago Under-20 central defender Robert Primus put Jabloteh in front after 26 minutes before striker Keyon Edwards equalised in the 59th.

Both teams had their moments earlier on, with former national forward Hector Sam scuffing a 13th minute opportunity for Jabloteh, hitting straight at goalkeeper Zane Coker after good work from Elton John, while Caledonia’s midfielder Marcus Ambrose forced a good save from goalie Cleon John in the 15th.

Primus got his name on the scoresheet, lashing his shot from inside the six-yard box after Sam got his head to Elton John’s right-sided freekick.

The league leaders failed to double their lead in the 33rd as, in a counter-attack, Sam released Lester Peltier who ran at the defence and played an over-lapping Noel Williams. But, given time and space, Williams only mustered a feeble shot which was denied by Coker.

In the 44th, Cleon John did well to punch away a Walter Moore in- swinging left-footed corner but Akim Armstrong smashed the rebound mere metres from the net. Edwards netted Caledonia’s leveller, with a neat right-footed finish past Cleon John after he was picked out by Kareem Joseph. Jabloteh’s central defender Karlon Murray, who was at fault for the equaliser, was shown a straight red card by referee Gregory Lewis, in the 67th, for using offensive language towards assistant referee Dwight Newsum.

At the Palo Seco Recreation Ground, St Ann’s Rangers recorded the day’s biggest upset, whipping the previously unbeaten United Petrotrin 4-2.

Striker Josimar Belgrave gave Rangers a 2-0 lead with items in the 30th and 57th minutes, before ex-national midfielder Arnold Dwarika responded with a pair (to push his season’s goal-scoring total to five) in the 65th and 68th minutes.

But another former TT attacker, Rangers’ captain Errol McFarlane, secured his club’s first win of the year with a double (80th and 81st).

St Kitts/Nevis midfielder Gerrard Williams found the back of the net in stoppage time to give W Connection a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Tobago United in the first of back-to-back matches at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella.

Lanky forward Kevon Woodley broke the deadlock for Connection after six minutes before St Vincent striker Reginald Payne, who have scored all the goals for Tobago United thus far in the season, netted his third overall in the 61st.

But Payne’s effort was in vain as Williams notched the decisive item in the dying seconds.

Midfielder Sylvester Teesdale scored a 21st minute winner as FC South End registered their first success of the season, by a 1-0 margin over Ma Pau in the second game at Marabella.

Police suffered their third straight defeat to drop to tenth spot on the standings. The lawmen never recovered from a half-hour battering from their fellow servicemen, the Defence Force, and were duly trounced 4-0 at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva.

Forward Kevon Carter moved his goal-scoring total to four, with strikes in the third and 28th minutes, while Keston Williams (fifth) and Anton Joseph (11th) contributed one apiece for the Army-Coast Guard combination.

The league will go on a three-week break, to facilitate the pair of 2010 FIFA World Cup Concacaf Zone Final Round qualifiers (at home to Costa Rica on June 6 and away to Mexico on June 10), as well as the League’s inaugural Goal Shield knockout competition, which begins this Friday.

League action will resume on June 16.