by RENALDO GILKES

THE Digicel Barbados Football Association Premier League is not for the faint- hearted.

Tuesday night at the YMCA proved just that, as the feature match between Chicken Lickin Silver Sands and Arawak Youth Milan ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw in front of a rather small crowd.

Earlier in the night, Barbados Defence Force (BDF) maintained their unbeaten record by rolling over Tudor Bridge 4-0.

The north (Youth Milan) versus south (Silver Sands) encounter is always a breathtaking one, since it is always hard to predict a winner because of their never-say-die attitudes.

Silver Sands took the lead in the 11th minute through national youth team striker Jamar Harewood. A soft back-pass towards custodian Adrian Chase was intercepted by Harewood, who looked up and calmly slotted the ball between the approaching goalkeeper's legs and into the left corner.

Milan went in search for that ever-important equaliser, with former Silver Sands winger Jason Blackman causing havoc and chaos in the Silver Sands defence, now being marshalled by former national player Larry Alleyne.

Nared George also made many menacing runs and came close on many occasions, but was either foiled by custodian Rhon Cox or was inches wide of the target.

The pressure finally cracked the stubborn Silver Sands defence. A Blackman cross proved difficult for Cox to handle and as soon as he spilled it, Michael Forde was on the door step to knock it over the line to level the score 1-1 in the 40th minute.

Five minutes later, Silver Sands regained the lead. Harewood turned provider, slipping a pass behind the Milan defence into the path of midfielder Konrick Ashton who latched on to the ball and perfectly placed it past the right side of Chase to send the southern soldiers into a 2-1 lead.

Sent off

Glory soon turned into shame for Silver Sands when defender Troy "Hoppa" Trotman was red-carded in the 47th minute for handling the ball in the area. Milan skipper Ramuel Millar calmly stepped up and converted, sending the 'keeper the wrong way to tie the scores 2-2 going into halftime two goals each.

After an exciting first half, the fans were eagerly anticipating the start of the second and with Silver Sands down to ten men anything could have happened. It was hard to believe that Silver Sands were playing with ten men, for they dominated possession and seemed more likely to score, and so they did in the 51st minute.

Timothy Waldron swung in a cross from his right back position into the path of Troy Callender who controlled the ball brilliantly between two Milan defenders and pushed it past an advancing Chase to regain the lead, 3-2.

Silver Sands seemed contented with this scoreline and just kicked the ball up field, which frustrated Milan players who were attacking sometimes with seven players. After applying so much pressure and Silver Sands losing another player (Albert Mapp) via the red card route, Milan equalised in the 92nd minute.

Forde got his second after the ball fell to him outside the box and he drilled it back into the area which eluded everyone, including an outstretched Cox, to level the score 3-3.

In the night's first match of the night, BDF put two goals past Tudor Bridge in the first 15 minutes. Barry Skeete made the first strike in the 5th minute and Carlos Barnett made it 2-0 in the 13th minute.

Mario Hunte supplied the third goal in the 67th minute and Kemar Dottin, set up by a Terry Smith cross from out on the right flank, sealed the match in injury time.

Tudor Bridge finished the match with ten men after Rodney Norville's red card expulsion in the 85th minute.