Forward Ridel Stanislas scored a hattrick to lead Jennings Grenades to an emphatic 6 – 2 victory over Empire in the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association’s (ABFA) Premier Division on Sunday night.
Stanislas scored his first in the 29th minute to equalise for Jennings Grenades after forward Rakeem Joseph scored the first of two goals in the 7th minute to give Empire a 1 – 0 lead.
Goals by Barrington Blake in the 32nd minute and Quinton Griffith in the 36th minute propelled Grenades to a 3 – 1 lead at halftime.
Shortly after the interval, Joseph scored for the second time with a goal in the 51st minute to reduce Empire’s deficit, but Stanislas restored Jennings Grenades’ two-goal cushion with a 60th minute conversion.
Kieron Richards extended Grenades’ lead with a goal in the 69th minute.
Stanislas sealed Jennings’ victory when he scored his team’s final goal in the 82nd minute to complete his hattrick.
Empire has now lost for the fifth time in seven appearances, relegating them to the lower half of the 12-team competition with six points.
The win allowed Jennings Grenades to regain second place on goal difference, ahead of Villa Lions with both teams now level on 18 points from eight matches.
Both still trail All Saint United who consolidated their position at the top with a default victory over Cedar Grove Blue Jays.
Cedar Grove’s failure to show up for the match, which should have been the opening affair of a triple header on Sunday, resulted in All Saints United being credited a 3 – 0 victory.
This advanced them to 21 points from eight encounters and secured their place at the top of the standings.
The Blue Jays remain third from bottom of the standings with 4 points after five losses in seven matches.
Veteran striker, Peter “Big Pete” Byers, scored a brace to lead SAP to a 3 – 1 victory over Five Islands in Sunday’s feature match.
Byers scored in the 15th and 96th minutes, while Samuel Semper had a 78th minute conversion for SAP.
Tyrese Joseph scored an own goal in the 41st minute for Five Islands who succumbed to their seventh loss in eight matches sealing their place at second from bottom of the standings on one point.
A fourth win in seven outings lifted SAP into sixth place on goal difference ahead of Tryum.
Both teams have 13 points, but Tryum has played eight matches.
