By Carlena Knight
FC Aston Villa for the first time this season were on the losing end of the stick as they went under to Cool and Smooth ACT Empire on Sunday afternoon at the King George V Grounds.
Rakeem Joseph was a goal shy of a hattrick for the victors while teammate Ratijah Davis added insult to injury with the third and final goal.
Kwame–Ture Kirby and Rivero Torres Yasnay were the goal-scorers for Villa.
Despite the loss, Villa remain at the top of the 12-team Division One Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) standings with 22 points.
Empire moved to 4th with 20.
Tryum and Bolans FC also recorded wins over the weekend as Tryum edged out Potters Tigers 2-1 while Bolans defeated Police 1-0.
Akeem Francis (19th) and Odaine Gordon (50th) were the goal-scorers for Tryum while Joshua Daniel (60th) scored the lone goal for Potters.
Shaquille Daniel (48th) scored the winning goal for Bolans.
Tryum are now 5th with 18 points, while Potters remain in the 11th spot with four points.
Newly promoted team, Bolans moved to 8th with 13 while the lawmen slipped to 10th with eight.
Meanwhile, in the lone Division Two encounters, Earthquakes trounced Tamo FC 2-0.
The Zone 2 match-up saw Kadeem Campeli (10th) and Arnold James (45th) find the back of the net for the victors to move them to 7th with 14 points while Tamo are 10th with eight.