Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
Portmore United's Jason Morrison (facing camera) nets a goal against Arnett Gardens during their Wray and Nephew National Premier League match at Ferdie Neita Park yesterday. Arnett Gardens won 2-1. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
ARNETT GARDENS' hope of a berth in the Wray and Nephew National Premier League semi-final have dissipated, but they showed yesterday that they have not given up the hunt for victories.
They secured a 2-1 win over Portmore United at Ferdie Neita Park to move to 55 points.
Victory, if anything, badly affected the chances of Portmore winning the million-dollar prize for topping the preliminary competition as they remained on 63 points.
FIVE ADRIFT LEADERS
This is five adrift leaders Harbour View, which beat Wadadah 2-0 in the late game at Jarrett Park last night.
Midfielder Sean Fraser scored both goals for the Stars of the East at the 36th and 48th minutes.
At Portmore, Arnett were blessed with a brace from Kwame Richardson in the 27th and 45th minutes of play, while Portmore had to wait until the 68th minute before Jason Morrison pulled one back.
Portmore, while not adding much in the way of attack, did have quite a bit of possession when the game started and one thought that it would be just a matter of time before Arnett would crumble. That didn't happen.
"We came out flat in the first-half but it was better in the second," said Portmore coach Paul Young.
On the back of a 3-0 win over Wadadah last week, Arnett looked dangerous.
A MENACE
They were stringing passes together well through Jermaine Benjamin in his new role on the left side of midfield.
While Benjamin was passing the ball around, it was Richardson who was posing a menace, abusing Portmore's back-line with lightning pace off the ball.
His pace was the reason for his first goal as Ryan Powell tried to head a ball back to his goalkeeper but miscalculated. In a flash, Richardson was behind him and dribbled away before striking a low drive from the right side of the 18-yard box into Shawn Sawyers' far post.
Richardson's second was also a testament to the hungry mood he was in.
Anthony Modeste, who is normally the most sound player in the Portmore unit, miscued playing a one-time pass from a ball that had been hit directly at him. The miscued ball slid under his boot and Richardson, who was five yards away, ran past him, again with astounding pace. He used some composure in the mix, as he lobbed Sawyers to beat him for the second time.
In the second-half Portmore at times indicated through their play that two goals weren't necessarily good enough to beat them and they launched attack after attack, but poor finishing from Roen Nelson, who missed a goal from two yards out and had a poorly hit penalty saved by Julian McLeish, cost the St. Catherine team.
"We could have tied the game but that's the way the story goes. We just have to keep on working on Nelson," said Young
Morrison, prior to Nelson's penalty miss, raised Portmore's hopes, as he was on the end of a brilliantly worked free-kick that he hit from the most acute of angles with the help of a goal-line deflection from the Arnett defence.
Portmore's loss means they have slipped to fourth in the tightly bunched semi-final prospects. Both Tivoli and Waterhouse have inched to 64 points, one above them, making their chances at the million dollar bonus for the most points in the league an uphill task.
