- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 27/Aug 18:37

Central FC, Robinhood battle to draw in Suriname

MIC Central FC Reboot played to a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Suriname club SV Robinhood in their group A Concacaf Caribbean Cup match at the Dr Franklin Essed Stadion, Paramaribo, Suriname on August 26. After facing defeats in their Group A openers last week, it was a result that hardly favoured either team on their quest to get a top two spot and advance to the semifinals. The hosts started the contest the brighter and their early running paid off in the tenth minute when Mauro dos Santos swept home a cross from impressive flanker Gilberto Cronie. The Randolph Boyce-coached Central team took a while to settle into the contest as the 2023 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Shield champs SV Robinhood were buzzing. In the 27th minute, though, the Trinidad and Tobago outfit got on the scoresheet against the run of play when striker Isaiah Lee headed in a right-side corner from veteran playmaker Joevein Jones. Lee and Jones are new additions to Central’s squad for the tourney, along with other experienced figures such as Alvin Jones and Marvin Phillip. In the 37th minute, Lee and Joevin combined to good effect again when the latter latched onto a through pass to slam a low, left-footed shot past goalkeeper Jonathan Fonkel. They weren’t playing champagne football, but Central took their chances on the break to get their first lead in group play. Just before the half, Phillip and right back Liam Burns were called into action when they combined to stop a goal-bound effort from Ravello Zijler, who was well picked out by a clever Cronie pass. Cronie continued his probing play down the right in the second half and created an opening for Renske Adipi in the 54th minute. However, Adipi rushed his left-footed effort, which went well over the bar. On the hour mark, Zijler had his finishing boots on when he expertly placed a right-footed shot into the far corner to make it 2-2 after a through pass from Allierio Belfor got him behind the Central defence. After the equaliser, both teams had little luck as they desperately tried to snatch a winner. In the 73rd minute, Central playmaker Daniel David had a stinging left-footed shot from outside the area just beaten away by Fonkel, while Lee somehow dragged an effort wide in the 81st minute at the end of a well-worked counter-attack with Joevin and forward Kadeem Corbin. Two minutes later, Central’s blushes were spared at the other end when a shot cannoned off the post at the end of a neat Robinhood sequence. Still, Central could have sealed all three points in the 90th minute, but Corbin had a left-footed shot easily saved by Fonkel after faking out two defenders in the box. With one point to show from their first two games, there is still a lot of work to be done by Central. “We're thankful for the point. We have two games back home where we have to win to take us out of the group,” said Joevin, who was named Man of the Match. “In the last match against O&M FC, I think we missed a lot of chances. But in this game, we had a few chances and we scored the two goals. We could have scored more but…we're going back home with one point. We have two games to go to get six more points.” Central will play their last two group matches at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo against 2025 CFU Club Shield champions Moca FC (September 16) and Jamaica’s Mount Pleasant Football Academy (September 23). The post Central FC, Robinhood battle to draw in Suriname appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.