qrc 0 diego sec 2

QRC 0 - Diego Sec 2

QRC

Diego Sec

2

A team with nothing to lose and everything to prove brought their

A-game on a road trip and left St. Clair with full points. What should

have been shooting practice for the Royalians turned into their most

embarrassing and unexpected defeat for the season thus far.

QRC played host to a smaller, faster and more deliberate Diego Martin

Secondary outfit, and were exposed less than five minutes after the

whistle.

A long ball out of the Diego Martin defensive midfield set their two

strikers on the chase toward the QRC goal. Marshalled closely on the

left and right by two QRC defenders, Diego striker Cordell Cato slowed

just enough to catch the ball behind him on his heel and flick it over

their heads. As the keeper overcommitted himself, the tiny player

poked the dropping ball deftly forward. Another rushing QRC player ran

in and attempted to clear the ball hard across the face of the goal.

His fierce effort ended up pushing it just inside the far post to put

Diego Martin up one.

For another match, a multiplicity of problems including poor form and

bad attitudes plagued the home team. However at an individual level,

our players are not necessarily wanting for talent. But one is left to

wonder whether terms like "Man on!" and "Leave!" are no longer in a

player's vocabulary. Consequently, the coach would do well to focus on

passing and communication on the field in the next few training

sessions.

Despite good individual work by third-year defenceman cum striker

Rashad Griffith and Shabaka Mahlali playing out of the midfield, QRC

could not manage to close the gap. At the same time though,

centre-back Kareem Richardson, made to work too hard by his own wing

backs, helped a shaky looking keeper to keep the Diego Martin attack

honest.

Unfortunately, a game that could have been an uptempo affair was

unnecessarily stilted by an overly-controlling referee. He at one

point went as far as halting a promising QRC counter-attack when he

noticed that a Diego Martin player was rolling on the ground on the

other end of the field, way out of play. Both linesmen need also

closely review FIFA's Law 11 as they too put unnecessary stops to the

game on both ends.

The QRC coach would do well to reconsider the attack's singular

reliance on national striker Jerrel Britto. Not only did the youngster

not do very much to free himself and to call for the ball, he was

caught gaping on several occasions as wingers made forays down the

lines, eventually having no-one to pass to in or at the top of the

Diego Martin box. Britto's apparent tendency to hang to the left also

pulled almost all play to that side of the field, until Griffith began

to look for opportunities on the right in the second half. The heavy

responsibility of being the team's go-to guy appears to have led to

the error in judgement that created Diego Martin's second goal.

Britto, visibly frustrated by poor service up front and bad calls

throughout the game, drifted into QRC's bottom third and held up the

ball on the left side of the field. Picked out immediately by two

Diego Martin players, he chose to try to beat his way out of the

situation rather than flick off the ball to free team mates. As the

ball was poked free, Cordell Cato was again on spot to pick it up and

make a surging short run to goal. He fired a fierce and clinical shot

past a stretching keeper up into the vee to notch his second for the

game.

Despite the small QRC supporting crowds calling for Britto to make up

for his error, the CFU Under-15 Championship top scorer spent more

time throwing up his hands than trying to marshall his troops. Diego

Martin had by that time though settled into eight-man defence, and

continued in that fashion until the final whistle.

In the day's marquee match, St. Anthony's and Malick played to a

goalless draw at Westmoorings, the Laventille outfit thus retaining

top position on the league table. Mucurapo secured their first victory

in four games with a one-nil win over Trinity College. Their -3 goal

difference leaves them in sixth position in the seven-team table.

Trinity's only points to date coming from a draw, they hold cellar

position. Fatima on a bye retains 3rd.

The QRC-Diego Martin result moves Diego ahead of QRC to 4th position

with four points from their four games. QRC drops from fourth to fifth

with only one win in their first match.

The Royalians next face Mucurapo at Fatima Ground on Wednesday 26th.

One hopes that the technical staff will find a way to halt the team's