The front-runners surely know when to turn on the heat.
Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme’s (BDFSP) late revival helped them to a 5-0 defeat of Zone 2 basement dwellers Rendezvous in the Barbados Football Association’s Premier League on Saturday night.
Leading 1-0 at the half-time, BDFSP were unable to find exceeding joy from the Rendezvous backline until the final ten minutes where they scored three times to complete the resounding victory.
Crane and Equipment Ellerton tried their best to keep on the heels of Zone 2 leaders BDFSP with a commanding 4-1 victory over Mark’s Auto Spares Porey Spring while Empire pulled off an unlikely 2-0 domination of high-flying Clayton’s Kola Tonic Notre Dame in a triple header of games at the Wildey Astroturf.
Omani Leacock got on the score sheet for BDFSP in the curtain raiser after 13 minutes. Rendezvous did an admirable job of keeping their opposition at bay but Leacock breached their defensive ranks again midway through the second half to double his team’s advantage.
Rendezvous’ fatigue and lack of suitable replacements on the bench contributed to the goal rush from the 81st minute onward. Romario Broomes tripled his troop’s lead before the crafty Leacock tripled his own personal tally four minutes later.
Central midfielder Akeem Hill completed the route in the 89th minute as the league’s highest scorers and best defensive team opened up a massive 14-point lead at the top of Zone 2.
Ellerton continued their ascent in Zone 2 with a convincing win over Porey Spring. Four minutes in, Shaquan Clarke already had the ball in the back of the net. In a similar pattern to the opening encounter, the second goal arrived midway through the second half in the 67th minute, Anson Barrow’s diving header putting adequate space between the two sides.
Shakir Skeete scored an unlikely consolation for Porey Spring in the 78th minute but the experienced Shetland Roberts doused any flames of recovery with a brave finish in the 84th minute to restore Ellerton’s two-goal cushion.
With Porey Spring’s confidence dented, Ellerton returned for more. Shaine Hermas scored the fourth just before the end after some neat interplay in the box with captain Damien Walcott.
Empire were keen to avenge Notre Dame for their 2-1 loss earlier this season and secured an improbable goal in the 21st minute when Jabarry “Papi” Chandler got away from his marker to tap home from close range at the back post following a corner.
For all of Notre Dame’s possession, they were particularly wasteful going forward and any opportunities which came close to threatening Empire’s lead, were quickly dashed away by Man-of-the-Match and goalkeeper Christopher Wilson.
The points were secured in the 88th minute when a desperate Aaron Leacock deflected Mario Phillips’ attempt into his own net as Empire inched further away from the danger zone with consecutive two-goal margin victories. (NM)
