Mackeson Brittons Hill 2-1 stunner over 2014 Digicel Premier League champions Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme (BDFSP) has practically opened the backdoor for a new champion to be crowned this year.
Dwayne Stanford, one of the best strikers on the island, set the Wildey, St Michael Astro Turf ablaze last night when he scored two superb goals for Brittons Hill who played with ten men and came from behind to take the game away from the BDFSP. That magnificent performance has now moved Brittons Hill into fourth position on 20 points, with the University of the West Indies Blackbirds in third place on 21, former champions Weymouth Wales are second on 23 points and Rendezvous are in the lead on 26. The BDFSP have now drifted into fifth place on 17 points.
Brittons Hill top striker Dwayne Stanford dribbling his way around BDFSP’s Kyle Gibson.
Two other games were also contested last night and Rendezvous defeated Direct TV Paradise 3-0, while the University of the West Indies Blackbirds and Solaris Pinelands played to an exciting 3-3 draw.
The game of the night, however, involved the BDFSP who many thought would have won over Brittons Hill but that was not to be even though the men in green had a 1-0 advantage at the end of the first half. In the 17th minute Tremaine Cobham scored on a rebound which had spilled out of the hands of Brittons Hill’s goalkeeper Rashad Ince.
Two minutes into the second half and Brittons Hill were at a disadvantage when Jabarry Greenidge received a red card for a reckless tackle. That did not faze the Brittons Hill men and Stanford was as persistent as he was in the first half. All his efforts and tireless running finally bore fruit in the 68th minute when he found the back of the nets and levelled the score at 1-1 to the delight of Brittons Hill’s fans around the ground.
With that goal both sides went in search of the winner but simply could not find their way through each other’s stout defence. However, in the 85th minute the BDFSP let their guard down and slack defending allowed the ball to get through their defensive cover. From a build-up play that ended between midfielder Elsid Miggins who cleanly passed the ball over to Stanford who controlled it and finished excellently from a difficult angle giving goalkeeper Saheka Duke little chance. That strike was the Brittons Hill marksman’s 11th goal of the league season so far.
After that BDFSP failed to find the equalizer and at the sounding of referee Gillian Martindale’s whistle one would have thought the Brittons Hill coach Fabian Wharton had won the title as he and those on the bench ran on to the field to celebrate.
The second game was a competitive one between Rendezvous and Paradise who both had several chances in the first half but failed to convert any of them into goals. That all changed when Rendezvous shook the nets in the 50th minute thanks to a well placed goal taken from just outside the 18-yard box by striker Miron Samuels. Ten minutes later Ramano Snagg scored a controversial goal when the ball hit the cross bar and bounced behind the goal-line and back into the hands of Paradise goalkeeper Jason Boxill who was not a happy man.
Then in the 90+3 minutes of added time substitute Shandel Samuels got in on the action when he ran and dribbled his way past Paradise defenders Zico Phillips and Najee Holder and placed the ball wide of Boxill who did not stand a chance.
The first match-up of the day was keenly contested and Amal Mayers of UWI scored one minute into the first half, then Chad Griffith responded for Pinelands in the 27th and three minutes later UWI regained the lead when Keith Warner scored an own goal.
Mario Harte captured UWI’s third goal in the 69th but Pinelands’ never-say-die approach resulted in goals from Dario Wilson and Arantees Lawrence in the 75th and 78th minute respectively and they were able to come from behind and share the spoils.
UWI striker Mario Harte is put under pressure by two Pinelands defenders.