Just one day after T&T's Concacaf 2026 World Cup qualification campaign concluded, top-flight domestic football resumed with round four in the T&T Premier Football League (TTPFL) on Wednesday.
All 12 clubs were scheduled to be in action across three venues, but all attention was at the Arima Velodrome to see whether the surprise leader, Prison Service FC, could maintain its early-season form.
Defender Wesley John's goal in the sixth minute proved to be the deciding item against FC Eagles in game one of a double header. That result was Prison's fourth consecutive win of the season, maintaining a perfect record to start the 2025 competition. Eagles, however, are yet to win a match, having lost three and drawn one, and are anchored to the bottom of the standings.
Meanwhile, the Golden Grove, Arouca-based Prison team, which only two weeks ago faced the possibility of having to withdraw from the competition after just two rounds due to a lack of funding to maintain its programme, now moves to 12 points and sits three points above Club Sando. Club Sando defeated Terminix La Horquetta Rangers 6-0 in game two of the Arima Velodrome double-header.
Luke Phillips put Club Sando ahead after three minutes as the Angus Eve-coached team sought to keep pressure on the league leader. Former St Benedict's College star and 2022 "Player of the Year", Tarik Lee, then intervened with a three-goal burst, scoring in the 29th, 49th, and 55th minutes before Rangers player Abdul Lezama unfortunately placed the ball into his own net in the 56th, making it 5-0 to Club Sando. Lee returned in the 74th minute to round off his and Club Sando's scoring in the one-sided outcome.
Proceedings were more balanced at the Phase II Recreation Ground in La Horquetta, Arima, where 1976 FC Phoenix came from behind to defeat San Juan Jabloteh 3-2 in game one, and Athletic Club Port-of-Spain (AC PoS) and Police FC drew 3-3.
Under rainy conditions in La Horquetta, the 6 pm kick-off between Jabloteh and Phoenix saw Malachi Webb put the San Juan Kings into a 27th-minute lead. The nippy midfielder was quickest to follow up on the rebound after Phoenix goalkeeper Duvaughn Daniel flapped at Andell Fraser's powerful free-kick, palming it onto the feet of a grateful Webb.
However, Phoenix's response was swift and decisive from the touch-off. It took them just four clinical passes in 12 seconds to move the ball from the centre circle and into the back of the Jabloteh net. Deleon Beckles' slide-rule pass put Teejay Cadiz through to apply a low finish beneath the body of the advancing Jabloteh goalkeeper Justin Dos Santos in the 28th.
Seven minutes later, Phoenix moved into the lead when Le Jandro Williams' cross from the left was collected by Ammari Alleyne at the edge of the area. He pushed past two defenders before striking with his left foot into the roof of the net from just about 15 yards out. That goal took Phoenix into a 2-1 halftime lead.
The game's next goal was not forthcoming until the 80th minute when Beckles raced onto an errant pass by Jabloteh's Josiah Baird. What Beckles did next left all spectators stunned as he set himself in the heavy conditions underfoot and unleashed a brute of a shot from less than 35 yards, which flew past Dos Santos and into the top corner for a 3-1 Phoenix lead.
Rakim Cabie netted a consolation item for Jabloteh in the second minute of added time, rising highest to head in the Jelani Peters corner kick, unmarked from six yards out. Those three points were the first for Phoenix, moving them from their previous position at the very bottom of the table.
Further up the TTPFL ladder, former winner AC Port of Spain, who started the round in seventh spot on four points, met Police FC, who came into the fixture second with six points.
The lawmen started on the front foot when Jabari Mitchell's whipped free kick from the right side was side-footed in by defender Kadeem Hutchinson. Recently retired from international duty, goalkeeper Marvin Phillip was left flat-footed on the sequence, perhaps still heavy from having played a full 90 minutes less than 24 hours before in T&T's final World Cup qualification 2-2 draw versus Bermuda.
However, Phillip's AC PoS teammates rallied to give him the lift he needed, and central to those efforts was Shackiel Henry. His first goal of a first-half hat-trick arrived two minutes after falling behind. Nathan Lewis' cross from the left was looped back across the box by Gabriel Nanton, and after contesting the initial header with a Police defender, the loose ball fell invitingly for Henry to prod it into the roof of the net.
Eight minutes later, Henry was back for his second after Lewis outpaced three Police defenders on the left touchline before delivering a pinpoint cross onto the head of Henry, who beat goalkeeper Raheem Lee again.
Henry completed the treble in the 42nd minute when first-half substitute Shaquille Holder's cutback, again from the left, was relayed goalward by Nanton, with Henry putting in a desperate slide to turn it over the goal line, giving AC PoS a 3-1 lead at the break.
However, the Police roared back with two goals in the second half, both coming from their leading scorer this season, Kwesi Allen. In the 67th, Allen, nicknamed "Jep", gave life to the sobriquet when he took flight to meet Mickaeel Jem Gordon's cross from the right with a well-placed header.
Allen linked up with Gordon to complete his brace in the third minute of stoppage time, scrambling onto Gordon's chested pass to condemn Phillip to his second disappointing stalemate in 24 hours.
Elsewhere, both matches at the Mahaica Sporting Complex had to be rescheduled due to a waterlogged field, with reigning champion Defence Force, Point Fortin Civic FC, Central FC Reboot and Caledonia AIA all left inactive in the round.
Round five of the league kicks off tonight, with matches continuing on Saturday and Sunday.
RESULTS
San Juan Jabloteh 2 (Malachi Webb 27th, Rakim Cabie 90+2 ) vs 1976 FC Phoenix 3 (Tee Jay Cadiz 28th, Ammari Alleyne 35th, Deleon Beckles 80th)
AC Port-of-Spain 3 (Shackiel Henry 7th, 15th, 42nd) vs Police 3 (Kadeem Hutchinson 5th, Kwesi Allen 67th, 90th+3)
FC Eagles 0 vs Prison Services FC 1 (Weslie John 6th)
La Horquetta Rangers 0 vs Club Sando 6 (Luke Phillips 3rd, Tarik Lee 29th, 49th, 55th, 74th, Abdul Lezama o.g 56th)
Central FC Reboot vs Caledonia AIA - Did not play
Defence Force vs Point Fortin Civic - Did not play
STANDINGS
Teams*P*W*L*D*F*A*GD*Pts
1. Prison Service FC*4*4*0*0*9*2*7*12
2. Club Sando FC*4*3*1*0*9*1*8*9
3. Miscellaneous Police FC*4*2*1*1*9*5*4*7
4. Central FC Reboot*3*2*1*0*6*5*1*6
5. Defence Force FC*3*1*0*2*3*2*1*5
6. Athletic Club POS*4*1*1*2*4*5*-1*5
7. Point Fortin Civic FC*3*1*1*1*4*4*0*4
8. San Juan Jabloteh*4*1*2*1*5*8*-3*4
9. Caledonia AIA*3*1*2*0*4*5*-1*3
10. 1976 FC Phoenix*4*1*3*0*6*11*-5*3
11. La Horquetta Rangers*4*1*3*0*3*11*-8*3
12. FC Eagles*4*0*3*1*2*5*-3*1
Round 5 matches
Friday (November 21)
(At Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva)
Caledonia AIA vs San Juan Jabloteh, 6 pm
Club Sando vs Central FC Reboot, 8 pm
Saturday (November 22)
(At Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet)
Miscellaneous Police FC vs FC Eagles, 4 pm
FC 1976 Phoenix FC vs Defence Force FC, 6 pm
Sunday (November 23)
(At Ken Cooke Ground, Police Barracks, St James)
Point Fortin Civic FC vs AC Port of Spain, 5 pm
Prison Service FC vs La Horquetta Rangers, 7 pm
