Ezekiel Kesar strikes late, Police edge Arnett Gardens 2-1 in Caribbean Cup

Trinidad and Tobago Premier Football League (TTPFL) runners-up Miscellaneous Police FC (four points) got their first win of their 2024 Concacaf Caribbean Cup campaign on September 19 when they earned a 2-1 win against Jamaica’s Arnett Gardens in their clash at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

With the top two teams advancing from the five-team group, the lawmen needed a favourable result in the Group A match to keep their hopes alive and their victory took them to third spot with one group match left.

The game was quite an open affair, with both clubs creating a host of chances as they chased the three points.

With the scores locked at 1-1 in the 84th minute, it was a pair of substitutes who combined to deadly effect for Police, with forward Ezekiel Kesar tapping past custodian Richardo White after flanker Kadeem Hutchinson’s shot was initially charged down by the goalie.

The cellar-placed Arnett Gardens had a bright start to the contest, and the powerful Kimani Arbouine struck the angle of the post and bar in the tenth minute after dispossessing defender Alvin Jones, with striker Warner Brown seeing his close range effort deflected wide just three minutes later.

Arbouine looked to have an appetite for the spectacular, and he had a long range shot tipped just wide by Foncette in the 26th minute, before crashing another ferocious effort off the bar ten minutes later.

Police had their own encounters with the woodwork, as their veteran striker Kevon “Showtime” Woodley sent a header crashing off the bar in the 32nd minute after being found by a lovely right-side cross from Jones.

In the 38th minute, Police wasted another glorious opportunity when centre back Robert Primus headed over the bar from a right-side corner by Joevin Jones.

The teams went into the halftime break goalless, but Joevin got the game’s opening goal just two minutes after the resumption when his left-footed shot ballooned into the net via a deflection at the end of a flowing move involving Woodley and winger Mark Ramdeen.

The visitors responded quickly, though, as Brown sent a right-footed shot past Foncette in the 49th minute after being played in behind the defence.

The teams traded punches as they searched for the go-ahead goal, with both keeper’s being called into saves. Police playmaker Jabari Mitchell was stopped from a tight angle by White in the 60th minute after getting a layoff from Woodley, with Arnett Gardens skipper Jamone Shepherd being denied smartly by Foncette just two minutes later.

Brown missed a chance to grab his double when he sent a lobbed effort over the bar in the 65th minute after getting behind the Police defence.

Arnett Gardens would go on to rue that miss, as Kesar turned into an empty net in the closing stages of the match to give the hosts all three points.

Police will aim to keep their Concacaf Caribbean hopes alive when they host Jamaican powerhouse Mt Pleasant Football Academy in Mucurapo on September 26. Mt Pleasant are fourth in the group with three points from their first two matches.

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