Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer
Constant Spring's goalscorer Carl Brown (left) attempts to control the ball on the upper part of his body while being challenged from behind by Village United's Kirk Hendricks in their Wray & Nephew National Premier League game at Elliston Wakeland Centre in Falmouth, Trelawny, yesterday. - PHOTO BY RICHARD MORAIS
CONSTANT SPRING dropped another three points yesterday when they went down 1-2 to Village United at Elliston Wakeland Centre in the Wray and Nephew National Premier League.
Predictably, Fabian Dawkins was among the scorers. He struck in the 11th and 36th minutes, while Carl Brown gave his team hope in the 23rd minute with his strike.
With the win Village United increased their points tally to 14 while Constant Spring remained firmly rooted at the bottom of the table with four points.
While the result was predictable, Village had a much tougher time beating a fighting Constant Spring than they had anticipated. The bottom-placed team, which had changed its coach early last week, came out like a team on a mission giving as much as they got.
Despite their industry Constant Spring were to find themselves behind early in the first half. Teofore Bennett, who has been playing the role of provider for Dawkins, played the ball across the face of the goal for his strike partner to stroke home as the defense failed to react.
The visitors would draw level in the 23rd minute through Brown. Sloppy defending by the Village team, especially central defender Jeff Pearce, left a hole in front of his goalkeeper Elvis Hart. Hart could do nothing when Brown was played cleanly through and the attacking half of a set of twins on the Constant Spring team made no mistake.
Five minutes later Constant Spring could have taken the lead when Evol Headley found himself in a good position on the left side of the Village United 18-yard box. He lobbed the advancing Hart easily but watched in frustration as his effort ended up in the side netting.
MISSED CHANCES
Village United created an missed chances before Dawkins got his second in the 36th minute. Again Bennett was the provider as the goal came in a similar fashion. Three minutes later Dawkins tried to return the favour but Bennett, who cannot buy a goal at this time, could not strike the ball cleanly.
The intensity of the game picked up for parts in the second half but neither team managed to change the scoreline. Constant Spring's Shawn Hunter had an excellent long-ranged effort tipped over by Hart.
Defender Troy Smith almost brought Constant Spring level with an own goal when he headed a corner onto his own crossbar. The ball rebounded into play but the visitors could not make it count.
A number of chances came and went with the most telling falling to Bennett in the 87th minute. Ian McAnuff played a ball behind the Constant Spring defense for Bennett, who went for power instead of placement in order to beat goalkeeper Ralston Robinson, but had his shot blocked by a defender.
"I honestly think it was a pretty good game. We should have won but we did not have the cutting edge up front. What was encouraging was the fact that they fought for 90 minutes," said Constant Spring's Danny Lyn who was a mixture of disappointment and pleasure.
While pleased with the result, Village's Dr. Dean Weatherly felt that his players were not sharp enough.
"We did good to create chances but we should have done better in converting chances.
"The crosses were a bit short so we have to work on that. With a powerhouse such as Newton Sterling we definitely need to make more use of him," explained Dr. Weatherly.
GOALSHEET
Village United - 2
Fabian Dawkins - 11, 36th
Constant Spring - 1
Carl Brown - 23rd
