By LeVaughn Flynn, Staff ReporterPORTMORE United served Arnett Gardens their third straight loss yesterday at the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex with a spirited come from behind 3-1 win in the Wray & Nephew National Premier League (NPL) football competition.
Arnett scored first in the first half but two goals by former national representative Oneil McDonald allowed Portmore to prevail as the winner. Tyrone Sawyers scored the other goal for Portmore.
"A great, great performance, seeing that we were down - the guys toughed it out an we showed a lot of character today," said Portmore United's coach Lenworth Hyde.
After a spate of good attempts at goal by Arnett, Ray Graham scored in the 40th minute, less than 60 seconds after replacing an injured Kwame Richardson. Graham, was at the receiving end of a Jonathan Williams pass to give Arnett the advantage.
During the half-time break, Hyde said that he motivated his team by telling them that "the game is not over and one goal can't beat us. We just have to continue doing the simple things on the field: more running, passing and moving. We are physically fit and that's what showed today."
Initially, Portmore did not seem to be inspired by the pep talk, but a Tyrone Sawyers header in the 76th minute helped to put things in perspective for the club.
The inclusion of Winston 'Fanna' Griffiths and Damian Williams midway through the second half provided a burst of energy for Portmore.
"It's good when the bench can come on and win a game for you. That shows the depth of your team," Hyde stated.
McDonald's first goal came courtesy of a goalkeeping error by Arnett's Julian McLeish. McLeish, who was unable to hold on to a Kevin Deerr cross, lost the ball to a prowling McDonald in the 86th minute. That goal knocked the wind out of Arnett and the third in added time (90+2), showed Portmore 's resilience and Arnett's vulnerability.
"The concentration went to pieces. You could see (that) players started doing their own thing and stopped focusing on what they're suppose to be doing and that resulted in us losing this game," Arnett's coach Jerome Waite said.
"These players need to be hungry to play some football and this (lack of hunger) has been going on for some time now. After putting out so much effort after 65 minutes then after that just go to pieces, I don't know what is happening with these guys," a disappointed Waite said.
