Drama-filled encounter puts Calabar atop tight Zone D

CALABAR SURGED to the top of Zone D as they eked out a 1-0 victory over St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) in a top-of-the-table clash yesterday at the Calabar field.

The Andrew Price-coached team started slowly but gathered momentum as the game grew older, with their first meaningful chance coming in the 26th minute.

Jaheim Rankine was in the thick of things as his deflected shot had to be carefully handled by STATHS custodian Jaheim Williams. That was, perhaps, a wake-up call for Phillip Williams and his troups as four minutes later, they got a glorious chance of their own but failed to capitalise as Kevin Hall’s shot didn’t have enough power to get beyond Calabar custodian Omari Grant.

As both teams continued with prodding, jabbing, and retreating, Calabar broke the deadlock in the 34th minute courtesy of a thunderous right-footed shot from Rankine.

Calabar came close to doubling their lead before the half-time interval but came up short as Jayden Henry’s strike was saved.

If the first half was about jabbing and retreating, the second was an all-out brawl with STATHS Alexavier Gooden receiving a second yellow card for a rash challenge. Both teams went in search of goals, with Calabar coming close in the 59th minute through Anthony McDonald’s trickery. His quick-footedness, however, only resulted in a shot over the bar.

With the referee’s final whistle fast approaching, STATHS thought they had found an equaliser through Cristiano Brown, who watched in disbelief as his goal was ruled offside, much to the disgust of his teammates, the coaching staff, and supporters.

In his post-game interview Phillip Williams felt officials cost him a point.

“Tension and emotions are high. It’s unfortunate that ISSA has invested so much in football and then poor refereeing is taking away from the game. Both teams played decent football, but the officiating needs to get better. Referees need to do better in Jamaica as they are very poor,” he lamented.

Andrew Price, head coach of Calabar, was pleased with the way his boys performed without two of their regular players.

“The youngsters are resilient as we played without two of our regular central defenders. We had to patch up the team as players played in positions they aren’t used to, but we have a system, and once people fit into the system, the team will play well,” said Price.

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com