Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer
Norman Foster (closest to camera) of Violet Tourers races away from a defender during the game. Foster scored twice in his team's 3-0 win against Infernal in Sunday's Spoon Auto Supply/Steve Bucknor Western Masters Football League first leg semi-final game at the UDC playing field. - Photo by Adrian Frater
SEBA United on Wednesday night regained their footing just in time to hold off Village United for a 3-2 win and take sole possession of top spot in the Cash Plus Premier League (CPPL).
The former champions stormed into the lead in the eighth minute when veteran Norman Foster blasted a penalty home from a hand ball in the 18-yard box, to give the home team a deserved lead. They continued to dominate play and could have gone further ahead by half-time.
Delroy Ellis latched on to a poor back pass from Preston Bernard in the 21st minute but shot high. Ten minutes later, Ricardo Geddes sent a thunderbolt goalwards from 35 yards and was unlucky to see goalkeeper Kemar Llewellyn parry for a corner.
Chance
While Seba continued to dominate, it was not all one-way traffic as Village did create the occasional chance. With just a minute to go before half-time, the prolific Fabian Dawkins miskicked a cross from close to six yards, letting goalkeeper Gavine Barrett off the hook.
Second-half action picked up from where the first half ended, and just 15 minutes after the resumption, Seba moved further ahead. Ellis collected an excellent though ball from the impressive Geddes, outpaced two defenders and fired on the run past Llewellyn. Three minutes later Seba could have gone three goals up when a blistering right-sided drive from Daniel Ricketts struck the goalkeeper's hand, the left upright, the right upright and rebounded into play.
Hard-working Kemar Mills pulled Village back in the game in the 65th minute with an opportunistic drive.
Village were to make the game more of a contest in the 69th minute when Geddes picked up his second yellow card for a retaliatory foul on Oneil Robinson. That swung the flow of the game in Village's favour, which was cemented by a Dawkins strike in the 72nd minute.
He picked up a ball just outside the centre circle, dribbled goalwards and fired past Barrett.
Seba made a double change two minutes later, replacing Ellis and Ricketts with Donovan Peart and Kemar James. The move paid off four minutes later when a drive from James rebounded off the keeper into the path of Peart, who bundled it home.
"I think we played at 80 per cent today but I guess another three points is good. It takes us up to 10 now. We have to give the players credit for the kind of performance," a relatively pleased Seba coach, Theodore Whitmore, said.
Village's Mercury said the loss was a tough one but there were encouraging signs.
"I can take something out of the game because it is the first time that we have come back from behind to equalise, but what I have seen and what I have told the players is that (a lack of) concentration always get the better of us," said Mercury.
Scores
| Seba | 3 |
| Norman Foster eighth, |
| Delroy Ellis 60th, Donovan |
| Peart 78th |
| Village | 2 |
Kemar Mills 65th, Fabian Dawkins 72nd
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