Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor

WITH ONLY 12 minutes remaining and the game scoreless, Arnett Gardens appeared set to pull off one of the most miraculous escapes in their Wray and Nephew National Premier League big clash against Portmore United at Spanish Prison Oval yesterday.

However, Oneil 'Chippy' McDonald ensured it did not happen. Brought on at the 67th minute to provide the bit of luck Portmore needed, the striker latched on to a long pass from defender Adrian Reid and with yards of space, placed the ball past the advancing goalkeeper Julian McLeish and into the open net to score the goal that had so badly deserted so many of his teammates.

It lifted Portmore to a deserved 1-0 win over the Junglists and, more importantly, into third position on 17 points, a point more than Arnett who dropped back from third place in the 12-team standings.

"It was a grinding victory," was how Paul Young, Portmore's coach, described the win that on countless occasions before McDonald's 78th minute strike had looked so likely as one after another Portmore player squandered a scoring opportunity that seemed impossible to miss.

There was even one occasion when form striker Carlington Smith - who hit the post with a cracking left-footed shot - after the goal, dragged McLeish to the near post with a dribble, before playing a pass across the six-yard box that three of his Portmore teammates somehow managed to miss.

Missed chances

It rolled gently to another, Anthony Bennett, who had missed quite a few earlier. But clearly, it was not his day to score and his shot crashed onto a defender, who seconds earlier hadn't been in front of goal.

On at least 10 other occasions, Portmore created quality chances for players unmarked with the ball at their feet and facing goal less than 10 yards away only to be denied most times by McLeish's brilliance.

"We had a lot of chances, we should have scored a lot more goals," Young pointed out. "But you only need one goal to win the game."

He said: "We totally dominated the game, we needed the game and deserved the win. We got the three points we wanted to stay as close as possible to the leaders."

Harbour View (20 points) and Waterhouse (19), who started the day one-two, played late matches last night.

There were few Arnett moments, but they came far apart and could not be sustained during a poor display where far too often they gave up the ball easily and spent too much time ripping into each other.

They showed most intensity after conceding the goal and it led to a red card for one player from each team when Gerald Neil made back-to-back hard tackles inside the final minute. Neil, and Portmore sub Orane Miller, were the players ejected.

Arnett's coach, Glendon 'Admiral' Bailey, was in no mood for excuses.

"We didn't play anything today," he assessed. "This is the worst game that we have played this season.

"Each team has one of those days, this was our time to have one of those days."

Portmore 1

Oneil McDonald 78th minute

Arnett 0