FOOTBALL-Reggae Boy Roofe seals Rangers’ win as Caribbean players thrive.

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GLASGOW, Scotland, CMC – Reggae Boy Kemar Roofe scored the second goal of his injury-plagued season to put the seal on Rangers’ 3-0 win at 10-man Livingston in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.

In England, Bermuda captain Nahki Wells, a second-half substitute, salvaged a point for Bristol City with an injury-time penalty in a 1-1 draw at Sunderland in the second-tier Championship.

St Kitts and Nevis striker Jacob Hazel, Montserrat international Jernade Meade, and Grenada winger Ricky Modeste were also on target for their respective clubs.

Meanwhile, 29-year-old Dominic Poleon, eligible to play for St Lucia, struck a hat-trick for sixth-tier National League South leaders Ebbsfleet United in a 6-2 home win over Hampton & Richmond.

At Almondvale Stadium in the south, the 28-year-old Roofe tapped in the third from seven yards on 85 minutes after earlier missing when clean through, while James Tavernier scored twice – including a superb free-kick – as Rangers earned a sixth straight Scottish Premiership win.

Roofe’s goal put the gloss on the scoreline, but the Rangers were made to work extremely hard for their victory. They remained nine points behind rivals Celtic, who they meet in next Sunday’s Scottish League Cup final at Hampden.

At the Stadium of Light in England’s north-east, Wells’ penalty in added time took 15th-placed Bristol City’s unbeaten run to 11 games in all competitions.

The Robins were trailing to Jack Clarke’s strike, but the visitors were awarded their first spot-kick for a remarkable 469 days when Jay Dasilva burst into the box and was rugby-tackled by a stumbling Alex Hume.

Wells then beat Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson – who brilliantly saved a penalty at Queens Park Rangers in midweek – to keep his side’s strong run of form going and deny the Black Cats just as they seemed set to rack up three consecutive league wins for the first time this season.

It was 32-year-old forward Wells’ 10th goal of the season but the first for a month.

Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson said: “It was a tough game, a perfect game of football, between two young, promising teams. As the away side, we showed a lot of courage to play our game against a good footballing side.”

On the penalty, he added: “Our players showed a bit of nous out there. Mark Sykes picked the ball up, and we wanted Nahki to take it, but Sykesy was saying to him, ‘You prepare yourself, and I’ll take any eye contact that comes my way.’”

In the West Midlands, the 28-year-old Hazel gave fourth-placed Darlington the lead in 71 minutes, but hosts Leamington hit back to grab a 2-1 win through Kelsey Mooney (84) and Jack Lane (90) in the National League North.

In the east, Left-back Meade, 30, who made his debut for Montserrat in 2021, rescued a point for second-placed Dartford with a 63rd-minute goal in a 1-1 draw at Braintree Town in the National League South.

In the same division, 34-year-old Spice Boy Modeste ensured Concorde Rangers left Tonbridge Angels in the southeast with a share of the spoils with a goal on 72 minutes in a 2-2 draw.

Jordan Greenidge, a 23-year-old forward whose brother Reiss plays for Guyana and Maidstone United, gave Tonbridge an interval lead with a 37th-minute goal.

Poleon’s treble took Ebbsfleet 11 points clear of Dartford and his personal goal tally for the campaign to 27 after a 35th-minute penalty and further strikes on 41 and 73 minutes.

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