THE bottom has begun to fall out of the barrel at United Petrotrin. They lost their third consecutive match since the TT Pro League break when Clico San Juan Jabloteh beat them 3-0 on Tuesday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

Jabloteh (23 points) now lead the League by five points from Petrotrin (18 points), while Joe Public are third (14 points) despite a 2-0 defeat by North East Stars, who are fast improving under new coach Clint Marcelle.

What was supposed to be a top-of-the-table clash between Jabloteh and Petrotrin on Tuesday, turned into a second half rout. The game was goalless until Peter Byers (45th) beat Petrotrin goalkeeper Curtis Granger low to his right on the stroke of halftime. But, once behind, the fragility which has plagued the "Oil Squad" recently, was soon evident again, when Byers rose uncontested to head in Trent Noel's cross from the centre of the penalty area, giving Jabloteh a 2-0 lead in the 60th minute.

Petrotrin had shown some brief fight early in the second half, when keeper Cleon John just managed to keep Marcus Joseph's long shot out of the Jabloteh goal. But once Petrotrin fell behind by two goals, the stuffing was knocked out of them and their situation became even worse when striker Simeon Augustus was given a straight red card and sent off the field. From then on, it was almost a game of cat and mouse, Jabloteh apparently toying with Petrotrin.

It got so easy for Jabloteh, that when Noel Williams put Lester Peltier clear just about 10 metres from goal in the 68th minute, the latter refused the shot and passed the ball back to Williams. And Byers again outjumped the defenders, but headed Williams' cross onto an upright.

Having missed most of last season through injury, St Vincent & the Grenadines' Shandell Samuel, formerly a prolific striker for North East Stars, came on as a substitute. And when put through on the right by a pass from another substitute Marvin Oliver, Samuel buried a low shot past keeper Granger in the 82nd minute to extend the lead to 3-0.

Having won their first six matches, conceding just two goals in the process, the once air-tight Petrotrin defence has now conceded eight goals in the last three games. On Tuesday, Petrotrin were lucky to escape with their pride still intact because if Jabloteh were in a different mood, the game could have ended in a very big score.

TT PRO LEAGUE RESULTS:

San Juan Jabloteh 3 (Peter Byers (45th & 60th), Shandell Samuel (82nd) vs United Petrotrin 0

Defence Force 0 vs W Connection 2 (Eder Gilmar Aras, 5th), Oscar Torijano (90th)

Superstar Rangers 1 (Ricky Charles, 90th) vs Ma Pau 1 (Hachim Arcia (56th)

SATURDAY'S TT PRO LEAGUE

MATCHES:

4 pm - Ma Pau v W Connection, Ato Boldon Stadium

4 pm - United Petrotrin v Caledonia AIA, Palo Seco Recreation Ground

4 pm - Joe Public v Tobago United, Marvin Lee Stadium

4 pm - Defence Force v St. Ann's Rangers, Hasely Crawford Stadium

6 pm - North East Stars v San Juan Jabloteh, Hasely Crawford Stadium