by EZRA STUART

EDEN STARS came to the eastern parish of St Philip on Monday night and shone brightly, defeating title challengers Pinelands 1-0 in the Remy Martin Division 1 Football League.

Before a large crowd at the Wayne Daniel facility in Brereton, the Eden Lodge, St Michael side avenged their 3-1 first round loss at the same venue.

Striker Jeremy Bradshaw made amends for missing a sitter in the first half, scoring the winning goal with a brilliant header in the 55th minute from an inswinging Kerry Forde corner kick.

The victory pushed Eden Stars five points clear at the top of the standings on 36 points and unless they slip up badly in their last four matches, they are almost certain to regain promotion to the premiership.

Pinelands remained on 28 points but have a game in hand while Weymouth Wales moved into second position on 31 points after defeating Ellerton 2-1 in the first match of the double header.

Shane Welch, with a header in the 23rd minute from a Terry Odle cross and Kemar King (51st) were Wales' goalscorers, while Damien Walcott scored in the 80th minute for Ellerton, whose Junior Hayde was redcarded, moments after failing to score.

This eagerly-awaited Pinelands/Eden Stars showdown, like the first round encounter, was full of excitement and in terms of quality, just as good as any in the premiership this season.

But it was a pity that it ended on a contentious note when a clear handled ball in the penalty area by Eden Stars' Anthony Forde was not spotted by referee Roy McArthur, who otherwise had a very good game.

It was a case of deja-vu as Eden Stars did not benefit from a similar handled ball when the teams met in the first round.

Just before that, Peter Stoute, Pinelands' marquee player, waited too long to shoot when he broke free and took the ball into the box and Eden Stars' sweeper Ricky Layne was able to block the shot.

The resulting corner was taken by Randy Straughn and was heading towards Stoute when Forde, almost in goalkeeper fashion, cleverly used his hands to push the ball out of danger.

Earlier, the Eden Stars fans were also screaming for a penalty when the fleet-footed Damien Welch was brought down just as he entered the 18-yard box, but a free-kick was given just outside the area.

Over at Ellerton, Benfica kept alive their hopes of at least finishing in second position and securing one of the two promotion berths when they thrashed bottom-placed side, Lodge Road 4-0, compliments a beaver-trick by striker Rohan Johnson.

The scheduled second game between the struggling Beverley Hills and Families First St John Sonnets was not played.