By LeVaughn Flynn, Staff ReporterMARKINO GILLINGS' double strike in less than one minute was good enough for Constant Spring's first win in the second round of the Wray and Nephew National Premier League (NPL) as they beat Tivoli 3-2 at Railway Oval yesterday.
"We needed this win today," said Constant Spring's coach Geoffery Maxwell, who has been more on the losing side since joining the team last month.
Highlighting the similarites between Tivoli and arch rivals Harbour View, against whom they had earlier secured a draw, Maxwell said: "Tivoli and Harbour View play similarly so we employed the same tactical plays. Tivoli sometimes play too slowly so we tried to counter them."
From kick-off both teams seemed to be testing the waters and were passive in attack.
Tivoli's Orane Simpson opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with Constant Spring's Fabian Watkins replying 12 minutes later to even the score.
DEFINING MOMENT
The defining moment in the game came in the 40th and 41st minutes with two quick goals from Gillings that sealed a win that moved them to 15 points. Though recorded as a minute apart, in real time the goals were separated by about 40 seconds. Both goals came from crosses to an unmarked Gillings in Tivoli's area.
Gillings gave his team the 2-1 edge after Jermaine Richards made a beautiful run down the right flank to free himself for the cross.
The striker was again able to weave himself into Tivoli's defence where he found himself free in the area. He had no problems finishing the play with a pass that Jameel Thompson played ahead of goalkeeper Edsel Scott.
After a comfortable 3-1 lead at the end of the first half, Constant Spring played mostly defensive and withdrew one of their forwards. It was not until the last minute of time-added-on (90+2) that Christopher Jackson got his team's second goal with his signature curving left-footer. They remained on 21 points.
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
On the stroke of half-time, Tivoli had a golden opportunity to end the half with two goals as Marvin Morgan was fouled in the area and his team was awarded a penalty.
Steve Green stepped to the fore but goalkeeper Leighton Murray had no problems blocking the shot that was kicked almost directly to him. Green pounced upon the rebound but failed again to place the ball in the back of the net.
Tivoli's coach Glendon Admiral Bailey pointed out the change of fate Tivoli could have had if they had capitalised on the penalty.
"Steve Green's missed penalty really hurt us. We could have gotten a draw if things had gone the other way," he said.
"Today was one of our worst games. After going ahead in the first half we got complacent. We made some tactical changes in the second half and we had territorial advantage," Bailey added.
Rivoli extend Arnett woes
By Daraine Luton, Freelance Writer
ARNETT GARDENS' indifferent season continued yesterday with them surrendering 1-2 to Rivoli in Wray and Nephew National Premier League action at Prison Oval in Spanish Town.
In an match which had all the excitement a spectator could ask for, the 'Junglists' were ambushed by the red-hot homesters who came from behind to clinch victory.
This was made possible through the efforts of captain Patrick Beech whose 55th minute shot from inside the penalty area cancelled out Denton Shedden's 20th minute strike.
Later, Derron Hodges would let Arnett pay for a moment of idiocy, which saw goalkeeper Julian McLeish been robbed of the ball on the goalline by Hodges, who made an easy tap-in to seal victory. McLeish was placed at a disadvantage by his defender Alex Thomas, whose back-header went past him. The goalie, who had advanced to the edge of the area to claim a long ball, had to chase the ball in order to save a corner but failed to grip the football, presenting Hodges with an early Christmas present.
Although he scored, television replays raised question mark about the legitimacy of the goal as the ball seemed to have been taken out of play by the attacker. It was not spotted by Peter Prendergast or any of his assistants.
NOT WITHOUT CONTROVERSY
Meanwhile, the game was not without controversy. Both teams lost a player each to referee Peter Prendergast's dreaded red card.
Rivoli expatriate Ray Graham was ejected in the 28th minute for violent conduct, a decision which earned Prendergast the wrath of the Arnett supporters who felt he was hard done.
The second half saw Ricardo Knight receiving marching orders for a second bookable offence, leaving both teams at 10 men.
During the fight for victory, Arnett lost substitute striker Alberto Fray who had to be taken to hospital due to a suspected broken right arm. Fray's hand had formed a defence for his head when Garfield Reid and Dwight Heron both swung high boots that hit him smack on either side of his head, forcing him to leave the field.
Fray's inability to rejoin the battle saw his team fighting to the end with nine men.
Bradley Stewart, Technical director for Rivoli which moved to 22 points, was happy with his team's third consecutive win but felt there is room for improvement.
"I am happy with the result but there were stages in the game that we lacked consistency...maybe it shows the lack of professionalism in our game locally," On the contrary, Jerome Waite, coach of Arnett which stayed on 14 points, was not pleased.
"I am very disappointed," Waite said, adding "I will have to do some serious talking with the players...it is a do-or-die situation (for the rest of the season)."
Errors galore in western clash
By Paul A. Reid, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU
VILLAGE UNITED and Seba United played to a drab and error-filled 1-1 draw at Jarrett Park yesterday as the second round of the Wray and Nephew National Premier League (NPL) continued.
This was the second time this season the teams were playing to a draw after ending 0-0 in the first round.
Both goals came directly as a result of poor defending as neither team was able to put away the chances they created.
Seba went ahead in the 31st minute when Kemar Mills was left unmarked on the left flank and slotted home off the bar past goalkeeper Elvis Hart.
Mills had the time and space after right back Athol Franklin was involved in an argument with a Seba player and was in the process of being separated by referee Hughill Thompson when the ball was squared.
Village equalised at the 76th minute from the penalty spot through Kirk Hendricks, the decision awarded after Jermaine Anderson tripped Dervan Clarke just inside the 18 yards box.
Anderson almost gave up another goal when he fouled another Village played on the edge of the box and the free kick was sent high over the bar.
POOR OUTING
It was a poor outing for the former national player as he wasted the best chance of the game when the score was still 0-0. He got a loose ball after the Village defence just barely scrambled it out of their area and with the entire half of the goal to shoot at, blasted the ball well wide of the target.
The point allowed Village to move into third place all by themselves on 23 points, trailing leaders Harbour View and Waterhouse, one point ahead of defending champions Portmore who have two games in hand.
Village's coach Lloyd Williams was satisfied with the point away from home, pointing out that they were playing without two of their top players - Shane Crawford and Mark Williams who are recovering from injuries. Christopher Dawes came on as a second half substitute, having just returned to the team after a lay-off for school.
Williams described his team's performance as "indisciplined" and said that while Seba played an amateurish type of football, his team was no better as they went away from the patient build ups they are accustomed to.
He promised harsh punishment for Franklin, however, whom he said almost brought the game into disrepute by arguing with the Seba player and left his post for Mills to score the first goal of the game.
Edwin Alcock, who was filling in for Everton Tomlinson on the Seba United bench, was pleased with his team's performance, describing it as "spirited and augurs well for the games coming up".
While he was not happy with the decision by the referee to award the penalty, saying he thought the foul was unintentional, he accepted that his team had a number of chances but opted to pass instead of kicking at goal.
H. View climb to top of standings
By Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
HARBOUR VIEW ended their second round drought in fine style with a 2-0 result against National Premier League kingpins Waterhouse in their top-of-the-table clash at the Harbour View Mini-Stadium yesterday.
Donald Stewart in the 30th minute and Jomo Gordon at the 55th did the damage for the home team which climbed a point above Waterhouse to the top of the standings on 29.
In the recently played End-of-Round final between the teams Waterhouse's Uchechuckwu Chinyere had a free run at defenders and Harbour View paid the price for these indiscretions.
There was a marked difference in the performance of the back four against Chinyere who was closely marked by Clifton Waugh for the duration of the game.
Commenting on the changes Harbour View's coach Donovan Hayles said: "We analysed the End-of-Round final and we looked at what Chinyere was doing and what we did in response. We made the adjustments and the results are evident."
As a matter of fact it was Waugh who intercepted a pass intended for Chinyere and played a diagonal pass spanning almost the length of the field to find Robert Scarlett, who skilfully dismissed Tafari O'Connor and played a low, hard ball into the box for a late arriving Stewart to tap home.
Harbour View went into overdrive after that and had numerous scoring opportunities that they failed to capitalise on. Waterhouse, however, were not outdone and looked as if they could come up with a goal. Long runs on the right hand side by O'Connor seemed to be getting the better of Harbour View and their lead looked unstable.
MAINTAIN PRESSURE
The second half saw the battle between Chinyere and Waugh peter out tamely although Waterhouse continued to maintain pressure for long periods of time. It was the pace of Harbour View's counters that made the game still seem even.
Conrad Hunt, on one of his driving runs down the line, fired in a hard cross that wasn't handled very well by Waterhouse's custodian, Loxley Reid. Gordon, who had been working hard without much success and must have thought himself unlucky not to have been on the scoresheet, was the first to the rebound, scoring what was possibly the easiest goal of his career.
Gordon's goal sealed the issue and after that the home team went into cruise control and almost lost some of their advantage because of it. The early shutdown of the Harbour View engine almost resulted in a Waterhouse goal when a shot on goal was very capably dealt with by Harbour View's Christopher Harvey, who had, for the moment, stood on the goal line to replace an absent goalkeeper.
That was to have been the last gasp for Waterhouse as the clock became an even more difficult obstacle than the Harbour View backline.
"After going 2-0 up I thought we defended too deeply and I'm just thankful that we didn't pay for it," said Hayles.
Losing coach, Harold Thomas was not seeking any excuses for his team's performance:
"We have some missing players due to injury and of course the suspension of Kevin Lamey, but their replacements should have stepped up and they didn't do that. We got some goals that we didn't capitalise upon and so we paid the price."
Stalemate!
Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer
ST MARY'S Star Cosmos left Trelawny yesterday still in search of their first win after playing to a 0-0 draw with Invaders in the battle of promoted teams at the Elliston Wakeland Sports Complex.
It was a forgettable day of football as neither team appeared to want a win.
The home team, which moved to 16 points, looked a more composed unit and had better opportunities to score but failed to do so. Livingston Williams missed two good chances in the first half and his replacement Delroy Ellis did likewise in the second half.
While Williams and Ellis could have given their team victory, the man who could and should have handed them an easy victory was left wing back Huwayne Blake. Blake had the run of the left flank but wasted opportunity after opportunity.
Star Cosmos' best effort came with three minutes to go when substitute Hillelide Dean forced a good save out of the brilliant Richard McCallum.
Despite failing to find the back of the net or carve out their first win of the season Star Cosmos' Lewin Purser was encouraged by the performance of his players.
"We would have preferred the three points but we give thanks for the one we got," Purser said of his team which collected its fourth point.
"Based on the way we played today we deserved the three points. The players played as if they wanted to win and that is a good sign," he added.
With his team still occupying the bottom place in the League Purser praised his players for their attitude. The main thing that his team could benefit from now is some "sponsorship... we just need some support now".
Invaders' Paul "Tegat" Davis was far from happy with his players' performance.
"The players are lazy. You have players with a lot of ability but they are not doing justice to it," Davis blasted.
