By LeVaughn Flynn, Staff ReporterWALTER 'PEARL' Boyd shined for Arnett Gardens yesterday, scoring twice to beat Star Cosmos 2-0 at Tony Spaulding Sports Complex.
After a rough start in the first round of the Wray & Nephew National Premier League, Arnett ended the first round with two consecutive wins and are now sixth in the 12-team league on 14 points.
Arnett's coach Jerome Waite said this was his team's rebirth.
Waite said the back-to-back wins definitely represented a new start. "We have won two consecutive games and this is good for the team and we just want to take it right in to the second round.
"Give Walter Boyd credit, he is looking himself and he is getting back at the right time," Waite added of his forward's performance yesterday.
Boyd netted his first goal in the 43rd minute with a powerful left-footer to the roof of the goal after eluding a defender in the area.
Arnett's playmaker Keith Kelly displayed excellent vision and started the play that resulted in Boyd's second goal. Kelly found Ray Graham on the left flank, who then dribbled inside and miscued a shot which was going wide across goal. It went right in the path of Boyd unmarked in the area, to knock it past goalkeeper Donovan McDonald in the 84th minute.
The game, though littered with seven yellow cards, was an exciting one with each team's tempo changing, particularly in the second half.
SHOOTING FAILED COSMOS
During that period, the St. Mary team went closest to scoring, though the circumstances were a bit strange. Arnett's goalie Allan Reid inadvertently blocked what initially seemed a harmless shot taken by Daviean Laing from almost 50 yards which seemed to be going over the crossbar. However, Mother Nature intervened a gust of wind changing the course of the ball hit high, which bounced off Reid's fist and behind goal for a corner.
In the first half Arnett's area was an unknown place to the Star Cosmos team, but that changed in the second half.
Star Cosmos caught fire and was on the attack for the first 20 minutes but inexperience plagued them as most of their shots were nowhere close to the goal.
WILLIAMS ADDS ZEST
The pace only changed in Arnett's favour with the late introduction of Jonathan Williams, however, and with Boyd's second goal it was all Arnett after that.
If points were given for optimism, Star Cosmos' coach Lewin Purser would lead the pack. "We just have to keep working at our game and hope that we can improve and one day soon we'll get the three points which we truly deserve," said a hopeful Purser.
"We got numerous chances but didn't put them away. Things that should have gone our way did not and we'll just have to pray and we hope that next time around it will be a better performance by the team."
Star Cosmos remained winless with three points from three draws and are at the bottom of the league.
Portmore get Village shocker
By Ainsley Walters, Staff Reporter
NATIONAL PREMIER League (NPL) champions Portmore United were surprised 1-0 by Village United at Ferdie Neita Park yesterday.
Portmore United, who were hoping for a Rivoli upset to keep alive their tiny chance of sneaking past Harbour View into the final, were cut down by a last-gasp goal against the run of play.
Substitute Marlon Fletcher ran on to a ball laid off by forward Teofore Bennett and cracked a wicked shot from 20-odd yards a minute from time. Goalie Shawn Sawyers was at his brilliant best, diving to block but the powerfully-struck ball bobbed out of his hand and bounced into goal.
Portmore were made to pay for missed chances throughout the match and not even a terse half-time roughing up by manager Horace Reid could spur the homesters' attackers to find their range.
"You can't have so many chances and not score," coach Lenny Hyde said after the game.
"It's been happening all season. We had more possession but that doesn't say you'll score. We weren't concentrating on making the final but we wanted the points."
Invaders boost hopes with win over Seba
Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer
NEWCOMERS INVADERS FC recorded their second win of the Wray and Nephew National Premier League with a 2-0 win over former champions Reno in a game played at the Elliston Wakeland Sports Complex.
Invaders secured their win through first-half goals from Sheldon Bryan and Reno defender Antholow Dawkins who put through his own net.
Had it not been for the brilliance of national goalkeeper Aaron Lawrence, the margin could have been wider.
Cassman Williams, coach of Invaders, was understandably happy with his team's victory.
"I am quite satisfied with the performance of the players today," he said. "What happened is that we had a slight tactical change in the starting line-up and the formation really... We went for the 4-4-2 system and I think it worked in that we crowded the middle and prevented Reno from getting their passing game together," explained Williams.
SUCCESSFUL NEW STRATEGY
He credited a change in formation and the fact that the players applied themselves more for the victory.
"Those were the two basic things that made the difference in the game today," Williams added.
While Williams was a picture of satisfaction, his counterpart Wendell Downswell was one of dejection.
"Extremely disappointed with the result," was how Downswell summed up his feelings following the game.
"Definitely the Invaders team played much more purposefully than us, especially in the first half. They were much quicker to the ball than us," he added.
Downswell was on the ball in his analysis of the game as his outfield players were well off. Pete Campbell and Kendri Quarrie who were expected to lead the Reno charge offered very little in constructive offensive play.
Invaders, on the other hand, led by the calm veteran Winston Anglin in midfield, pushed forward with purpose and only Lawrence with a little help from his defence saved Reno from a mauling in the first half.
Reno looked a hungrier team in the second half and had their best efforts on goal then. In the 71st minute substitute Oneil Barnes forced a good save from Richard McCallum, who tipped the ball over the bar.
MISSING THE MARK
Following a wasted opportunity by Thomas Grant, who had come on as a substitute for Invaders, Quarrie wasted another glorious opportunity in the 77th minute. The left-footed player beat the offside trap and got into the 18-yard box. With only McCallum to beat, he drifted further left narrowing his angle before trying foolishly to beat McCallum at his near post. It would not be Reno's day.
With the win Invaders climbed out of the relegation zone previously occupied by themselves and fellow newcomers Star Cosmos. Invaders' 11 points put them above Seba who played to a 1-1 draw with Constant Spring.
The win also convinced coach Williams that his team will avoid the drop.
"As you can see it is the first game that we have played in and scored and prevented the opponents from scoring. The team is looking good now and they are actually coming into their own now where the Premier League is concerned.
"I think they are getting seasoned to the League and are taking the right approach to the game," said Williams, adding that his team will definitely stay up.
Maxwell promising a new 'Spring'
By Paul-André Walker, Staff Reporter
"WE NEED to work hard, dig deep, because we can't wait anymore," were the words of Constant Spring midfielder Oneil Morrison, after yesterday's 1-1 draw with Seba United at the Constant Spring field, in what was their final game of the Wray and Nephew National Premier League first round.
In the 52nd minute Markeino Gillings put the home team in the lead, while the equaliser came two minutes later from the boot of the MoBay team's Rupert Lewin.
Under the watchful eyes of coach, Geoffrey Maxwell, Constant Spring started slowly and while they didn't seem likely to score, neither did their opponents.
GOOD DEFENDING
The midfield battle that ensued for the first half was for the most part cancelled out by good defending on both sides, and the second half didn't promise any changes until a beautifully executed give-and-go between Constant Spring's Victor Samuels and Jameel Thompson ended with a low cross that Gillings got to first, beating goalkeeper Alrick Henry to his near post.
The score didn't stay that way for long, though, as Lewin ran on to a diagonal pass from out of midfield and struck a ferocious volley to beat Leighton Murray to his far post from an acute angle.
"Constant Spring start training on Monday and I can definitely tell you that there will be a different 'Spring' team over the next two-and-a-half weeks," said their coach, Geoffery Maxwell.
Seba's coach, Everton Tomlinson, said: "The defenders showed that they have character, we haven't seen this kind of spirit from them in a long time and I am pleased with that.
"However, the midfield needs to do a little bit more. I think we gave up too much possession. When we got the ball, we gave it back to them and that puts too much pressure on the defence," he said.
