C. Spring defeat Village

By Paul A. Reid, Staff Reporter

A GREG Gardener goal in the first minute was enough to give Constant Spring all three points in their National Premier League fifth round game played at the Elleston-Wakeland Youth Centre in Falmouth yesterday.

The Kingston team struck on their first attempt at goal as goalkeeper Elvis Hart seemed to have been beaten in flight by a shot from just on the edge of the box.

Constant Spring dominated the game for long periods and should have scored on numerous occasions against a Village team which appeared out of synch and searching for a system.

Constant Spring dominated the middle of the field with Fabian Watkins, captain Carlington Clarke and Victor Samuels shunting passes to the hard running Gardener and Steve Mitchell. Village opted to bypass the middle of the field, banging the ball straight from defence to the forward line where they hoped Teafore Bennett and Fabian Dawkins would outrun the Constant Spring defence.

Village's ploy would have worked but for the fact that none of the forwards could find the goal when they managed to get past the well-organised Constant Spring defence which also used the off-side trap well.

Athol Franklin should have drawn Village level after 36 minutes when he had just goalkeeper Kelvin Brown to beat but shot right across goal.

Dawkins got his best chance in the 50th minute when he found himself inside the Constant Spring penalty area and, despite having enough time to pick his spot, kicked straight at the goalkeeper.

Gardener just failed to get his second goal when an acrobatic effort in the 80th minute beat goalkeeper Hart but hit the base of the left upright and rebounded into play.

Village's best chance of the afternoon came in the 84th minute but was wasted by substitute Loxley Thomas. Former national Under-20 invitee Christopher Stone, who had also come on in the second half, wormed his way down the left wing and his pinpoint cross beat goalkeeper Brown and the entire Constant Spring defence and fell nicely for Thomas. The midfielder went for a spectacular scissor kick and crashed the ball off the crossbar.

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