Joe Public crushed, Islanders steal last-minute victory
NEW YORK CITY, USA (CMC) — Trinidad & Tobago Pro League club Joe Public slinked-out of contention in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday, but the Puerto Rico Islanders fortified their hopes of reaching the next stage.
Joe Public were crushed when Santos of Mexico trampled them 5-1 in a Group B match at the Corona Stadium, and a pair of goals from David Horst lifted the Puerto Rico Islanders, the club of Jamaica international Nicholas Addlery, to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Toluca of Mexico at Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium.
In Torreon, Mexico, another abysmal performance from Joe Public left them nursing their egos, after the victory improved Santos to 10 points in five games.
The defeat left the Trinidad club on one point and with no chance of advancing to the quarter-finals of the confederation’s leading club competition.
The encounter appeared to be a mismatch as early as the third minute, when Rodolfo Reyes gave the home side the lead. Francisco Torres doubled the lead 10 minutes later.
Kerry Baptiste redressed the balance of power when he cut the deficit in the 32nd minute, after he butted Hayden Tinto’s cross in off the crossbar.
But Santos ran amok in the second half after they had carried a 2-1 lead into the half-time break.
Carlos Quintero eroded any plans of a fightback from Joe Public when he headed in fellow substitute Christian Benitez’s cross on the hour mark.
Cardenas found the back of the net eight minutes later, when he finished a run into the box with a low, rasping shot from eight metres.
Rafael Figueroa completed the rout in the 78th minute with a 35-metre strike that gave the Joe Public goalie no chance.
Joe Public also suffered the indignity of being reduced to 10 men in the final minute when American referee Mark Geiger sent off Carlyle Mitchell with a straight red card for a late sliding tackle on Benitez.
In Bayamon, Puerto Rico, David Horst scored in stoppage time to complete a brace and hand the Islanders a remarkable victory.
The Islanders seemed destined for defeat when Hector Mancilla scored twice in the space of 15 minutes in the first half to give Toluca a 2-0 lead at half-time.
Mancilla struck in the 10th minute, when he ran onto a rolling ball from Antonio Naelson, and then whipped a crisp stroke past Islanders net-minder Bill Gaudette.
Mancilla then took advantage of some confusion in the area following a corner kick, and scored his second.
The Islanders emerged for the second period with greater purpose, and stung Toluca in the 53rd minute when former Hartleplool striker David Foley fired in from a through ball orchestrated by inspirational right wingback Richard Martinez.
Horst then turned Josh Hansen’s corner kick into the goal in the 70th minute to draw the Islanders level.
Horst rose to meet another curling ball from Hansen — this time from the left — to setback Toluca and push the Islanders temporarily to the top of the group standings with eight points.