Adrian Frater, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
NAGGO HEAD notched their first win of the NPL play-offs yesterday when goals by Patrick Edmondson and Nicholas Williams gave them a 2-0 win over the previously unbeaten Negril FC at the Frome Sports Ground in Westmoreland.
By virtue of their win, the Naggo Head team, which went into the game on one point, has now joined the Negril team, which had a win and a draw in their previous two outings, on four points.
"The players came here today knowing that we had to win the game and they played with a great deal of commitment and dedication," said Harold Thomas, the coach of the Naggo Head team.
"Once we are able to maintain this momentum for the remainder of the playoff games, we should be able to take one of the qualifying places," Thomas said.
The game started with Naggo Head dominating the early exchanges and clearly looking the better team with their brisk pace on and off the ball. However, despite coming close on a few occasion, they failed to pierce the Negril defence.
After surviving a Negril counter-attack in the 16th minute when Howard Phillips nodded wide from close range, Naggo Head took the lead in the 20th minute. Nicolas Forbes' close range free-kick caught the Negril defence napping and the alert Edmondson, fired home easily, making the score 1-0.
With the momentum in their favour and Negril struggling to come to grips with their pace, Naggo Head doubled their lead in the 30th minute. A melee developed in front of the Negril goal and Williams fired home powerfully, making the half-time score 2-0.
The second half started with Naggo's Head missing a glorious chance in the 46th minute. Forbes pounced on a loose ball inside the Negril goal area but, from a difficult angle, fired the ball into the side netting.
A minute later, Naggo's Head wasted another chance when Damion Harris failed to get his close-range shot on target. Midway through the half Negril created back-to-back chances in 74th and 76th minutes. Firstly, Phillips pounced on a bouncing ball in front of goal but instead of picking his spot, he nodded the ball straight at goalkeeper Layton Barrett. Then, Kemeal Ferguson broke away from the Naggo's Head defence but fired wide.
In the dying minutes of the game, the Naggo's Head front-line took the Negril defence to task, running rings around them as they tried desperately to widen their lead but faulty finishing let them down.
