Jabloteh and Defence Force started at a high tempo in the second match of the Marvin Lee double header with the San Juan front line and midfield working overtime to press their opponents. The Army/Coast Guard combination had the first shot in anger through Richard Roy in the 3rd minute, but the bulky striker was not able to get his effort on frame.
Defence Force was playing their first game without longtime coach Ross Russell whose tenure in the Force has now come to an end after serving for some 26 years. Russell's former charges got the opening item in this contest in the 16th minute after a combination of good wing play and some sloppy defending by Jabloteh. Wide man Jemel Sebro coasted down the right hand flank before squaring a pass back into the penalty area that really should have been dealt with by young centre-back Isiah Mcintyre. However the St. Anthony's standout missed his clearance and left a relatively easy task for midfielder Josimar Belgrave to apply the finishing touch with his namesake Raheem Belgrave stranded in the San Juan goal. Jabloteh's hard early pressing had now been undone.
The youthful looking Jabloteh outfit which started three youngsters who played in the Secondary School League this season showed some promise but was unable to pose a great threat in the final third. One of those schoolboys, Brent Sam, had an opportunity to put his team back on terms in the 20th minute but the striker dragged his snap shot well wide.
The game never looked as though it would be a high scoring one and a second goal for Defence Force in the first period looked like it would seal the job. The goalscorer Belgrave again tried to put one past his namesake after some neat build up play but this time "Birdie" stood solid in the Jabloteh goal and was able to make the save.
Blegrave (J) was now a nuisance to the Jabloteh defense and was just inches away from putting his team up 2-nil at the start of the second half. He made a bustling run through the midfield, shrugging off everyone in his path it seemed, before hitting a low left-footed shot which came back off the post; Jabloteh left off the hook again. His teammate Glynn Franklyn kept up the trend of near misses as he sent his 61st minute header over bar following a corner.
In the 65th minute Jabloteh's Sam made his opponents pay for their wastefulness when he pulled out an absolute cracker that no one could have seen coming. Sam had been feeding on scraps till then so he decided to take things into his own hands it seems. A loose ball fell to Sam some 25 yards away from goal and the lanky striker turned instinctively before unleashing a left-footed cannon that flew past Sheldon Clarke's valiant dive. The high-flying David De Gea would have had problems plucking that one out of the air so Clarke should not be perturbed.
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| Jabloteh's Brent Sam scored a blinder last night. Here he lines up a free kick for San Juan North in a SSFL 2014 Premier Division Match. |
The game was really anybody's for the taking now as Sam's blast rejuvenated his team and woke up the Force as well. Defence Force's interim head coach Marvin Gordon responded by introducing midfielder Sean Narcis to replace wing-back Jelani Felix while Jabloteh's goalscorer Sam also had to make his way off after picking up an injury in a collision with Clarke.
Jabloteh's right-back Jevon Morris ensured that the game would end in dramatic fashion when he was sent off for his second bookable offence in the 75th minute. Skipper Kerry Baptiste was the player subsequently sacrificed as he made way for defender Dario Holmes.
The odds were now really stacked against Jabloteh as "The Army" knocked the ball around with precision to expose their opponents one-man deficit.
The ten men of Jabloteh nearly took the surprise lead in the 83rd minute when substitute Newton Sterling sent a glancing header just wide after Clarke made an ill-advised move to rush off his line.
Defence Force would put the game to bed just a minute later though as substitutes Kerry Joseph and Sean Narcis linked up well to get the second item. Joseph jinked passed a few challenges down the right-hand flank before finding an unmarked Narcis who deposited his effort with some style. There was nothing Belgrave (R) or the post could do about this effort.
Jabloteh did manage one last effort on goal in the 86th minute but Jamaican attacker Andell Noray saw his shot beaten away by Clarke; All three points to Defence Force then.
In the earlier match of the double header a 7th minute goal from Keron Cummins was enough for North East Stars to overcome St. Ann's Rangers who only have the solitary point to show seven games into the season.
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