A 50th-minute penalty by ace striker Peterson Pluvoise carried Blue Hills FC to a 1-0 win over Sharks, and thereby crowning themselves champions of the Apertura segment of the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) Provo Premier League, on Saturday at the Academy Field in Providenciales.
It was the first time in this year’s competition that Blue Hills were beating Sharks, who, based on their record against the champions, entered the game as favourites. Sharks’ task was only to avoid a loss, which would have given them the championship, seeing that they entered the game leading by the slimmest of point margins.
Both teams matched each other in the early exchanges, but it was Blue Hills that got the clearer chances to score. In the 7th minute of the game, Wilfrid Blaise, kicked the ball over the crossbar from close range.
Sharks could consider themselves unlucky not to have gone ahead in the 10th minute, after a Junior Paul shot from the right side of the flank was parried for a corner by the Blue Hills FC goalkeeper.
The Sharks goalkeeper, Pendieno Brooks, was called upon several times to keep his team in the game. In the 16th minute, a close-range shot from Rony Blanc, which was destined for the back of the net, was acrobatically plucked out of the air by Brooks.
In the 36th minute, Blue Hills missed assuming the lead when Blanc saw his shot crash onto the left post and ricocheted back into play. Blue Hills missed a glorious chance to break the deadlock when in the 40th minute, an Andre Lucces shot sailed over the bar from close range.
A minute later, Brooks pulled off what could have easily been the save of the game, when he went full stretch to tip a curling kick from Pluvoise over the bar for a corner. Again, in the 43rd minute, he pulled off another spectacular save from Pluvoise.
A minute from time, Sharks missed taking the lead when a curling freekick from Kevern De Bellot grazed the crossbar before going into touch.
The half was not without controversy, as Sharks number 10 player Brian Gregg found himself in the referee’s book, after protesting a call that did not go his way.
Blue Hills, in the second half, apparently shrugged off the nonchalance they donned in the first half to a more purposeful attitude. It was as a result of such determination that resulted in Pluvoise being fouled in the Sharks’ box, giving officiating referee Dane Ritchie no choice but to point to the dreaded spot.
A minute later Sharks missed pulling level, when Kiderson Marcellin saw his ferocious shot from the edge of the box crash onto the left post and rebounded into play.
Blue Hills upped the ante in the final minutes of play, but Brooks was equal to the task. In the 85th minute, Brooks pulled off another brilliant save from a Blanc strike. A minute later he made another telling save struck by Pluvoise.
For Blue Hills, it was all jubilation when the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the game.
Both teams will now turn their attention to the knockout competition, slated to begin next week.
