Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
A FIRST-half penalty by striker Kevin Deerr saw Portmore United edge Arnett Gardens 1-0 to send the Junglists to their third straight and fifth overall loss of the Wray and Nephew National Premier League final round, at the Ferdie Neita Sports Complex yesterday.
In an encounter which for the most part lack quality, Deerr constantly proved to be a thorn in the side of the Arnett Gardens back line. He put his team ahead from the spot in the 20th minute, after the pacey Omar Daley was brought down in the area by defender Marlon Benbow. Deerr fired his ninth goal of the season with plenty of pace to the right of a helpless Arnett custodian Julian McLeish.
"I thought we played in patches and we lost concentration every now and then. Overall I am satisfied that we got the three points but we could have played better," remarked Portmore coach Paul Young.
"It was kind of a scrappy game. We got a goal but we could have had at least a couple of chances towards the end of the game but at the end of the day it is still a win," he added.
In fact, already a goal up, Portmore had several chances to extend their lead, but the brilliance of McLeish often kept them at bay. He showed lightning reflexes in parrying a thunderous volley from Anthony Bennett in about the 60th minute.
However, when Deerr looked to add his second goal of the game, he would have Benbow to thank as he recovered after being left for dead by Deerr, sliding in to block an effort from about five yards away.
ATTACKING PLAY
Arnett never really looked smooth in their attacking play and in fact struggled to create legitimate scoring opportunities.
"The concentration of our team in the final third in terms of what to do with the ball was really lacking, so we are creating the chances we would like," analysed Arnett's assistant coach Michael Tulloch.
"I thought we fought all the way and it was a good game in terms of the effort they put out, but you win some and you lose some and we will have to head back to the drawing board," he said.
Arnett's best opportunity of the game fell to Cornell Chin-Sue but his 36th-minute effort, which caught Portmore Custodian Jacomena Barrett out of goal, was cleared off the line.
GOALSHEET
PORTMORE 1
Kevin Deerr 20th
ARNETT 0
