Sunday, March 21 2010

JOE PUBLIC withstood a late rally from Surinamese club Leo Victor to earn a 4-3 win in their opening Group ‘C’ First Round clash in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Champions Cup, at Kingstown, St Vincent on Friday.

Goalscoring ace and team captain Kerry Baptiste netted twice for the national Pro League and FA kings, while off-season signing Nigel Daniel and lanky left-back Keion Goodridge got the others. But Joe Public’s coach Derek King will be concerned for the fact that his team allowed two late goals as they held on for full points. Baptiste broke the deadlock in the 16th minute before S Rijssel tied up the scores nine minutes later.

On the hour-mark Daniel, a utility player who joined the squad from United Petrotrin, put Joe Public back in front while Baptiste (63rd) and Goodridge (78th) stretched the lead to 4-1. But the Surinamese did not go down without a fight, as S Van Zuilingen (84th) and R Emanuelson (90th) produced some late drama and tension, however Joe Public maintained their lead until the final whistle.

Joe Public will turn their attention on host club Avenues United today, in the second of back-to-back matches, with Leo Victor meeting Devonshire Cougars of Bermuda in the first game. Action in Group ‘C’ concludes on Tuesday with Joe Public facing Devonshire Cougars and Avenues United opposing Leo Victor. The top two teams in the group will automatically advance to the Second Round, which is due to take place from April 13-17.