Unique Tropical Sport Club, already with a 2-0 lead at the half, exploded for eight second-half goals to blank Free Will Baptist, 10-0, while Prankton roared back from a 4-1 deficit in the second half to draw with Skills 4-4 in V.I. Soccer Association league action Sunday at the Schjang Ball Park in Estate St. John.
Although overmatched, Free Will stayed with league-leading Unique as well as they could in the first half but still found themselves down 2-0 at intermission.
Whatever the Unique management said to their players during the break certainly lit a fire because within three minutes into the second half the score was 3-0. After that the scoring floodgates opened as Unique followed with scores in the 52nd, 60th, 63rd, 70th, 72nd, 80th, and 82nd minutes to complete the lopsided victory.
Mathew Jordon led the Unique assault with four goals, Elliot George netted two, and Tyrus Fontain, Adrian Coneage, Reynard Phillip, and Ludan Prosser scored one goal apiece.
In the late game, Prankton took the early lead when Melanic Kaza found the back of the net in the 10th minute. Skills would pull that goal back in the 45th minute when Kenyatta Lebruin scored to go into the break with the game knotted at one.
Skills’ momentum continued in the second half as they came out of the break as if on a mission. They score the first three goals of the half to take a 4-1 lead, and the celebration was on. Scoring for Skills in that three-goal run were Mickey Cruickshank in the 53rd minute, Lebruin again in the 56th, and LaShorty Bailey in the 60th minute.
The Prankton comeback began in the 62nd minute when Kaza scored his second goal of the match to bring his team one closer at 4-2. He was back at it three minutes later with his third goal to now trail 4-3 with the crowd was now staunchly behind Prankton as they began to smell an upset in the making.
It got even more exciting five minutes later when Willis Wilcox rose above the Skills defense to head home the equalizer off a corner kick in the 70th minute.
After that equalizer both teams settled down and played hard for the game-winning goal, with Prankton having the best of chances. However, some unwarranted, overly physical play, by some players took away from what was an exciting finish.
One Skills player was so ruthless in his actions on the field that the referee had no other option but to give him a much-deserved red card and ejection from the game.
For most of the players and both coaches, the final whistle could not come soon enough for a great game that turned ugly in the end. The match ended in a 4-4 draw.
