ST GEORGES' coach, Geof-frey Maxwell, believes superior second-half tactics were what gave his team a stunning 2-1 Digicel Premier League victory over champions Portmore United on Wednesday evening at Ferdie Neita Park.

The much-travelled coach said, "I thought that we were tactically superior to them (Portmore United) in the second half based on what we wanted to achieve.

"I said before that we have drawn four games and what we need to do is basically get a win, which we did, and I think the team will do much better (from here onwards)," he said.

"The idea, basically, is that Portmore is a running team and I thought that our best game is to keep the ball away from them and I believe that if I have the ball and you don't, you aren't going to beat me.

"What we decided to do is to dominate the midfield with a lot of slow passes, get the wing-backs up a little higher, to stretch them (the Portmore defence) and move them away." Portmore United's coach, Linval Dixon, though disappointed with the loss, said it was still early days and there was no need to push the 'panic button'. "We came here to get three points and unfortunately we gave up two goals and it cost us the game," Dixon said.

"It is a difficult pill to swallow at this time, but it is still early days, we still have to keep working hard and try to win games, tight games like these," he said.

Miscommunication

Portmore United took the lead in the 30th minute during a miscommunication between goalkeeper Ralston Robinson and a defender. Carlington Smith seized the chance and tapped into an empty net.

The goal came as Portmore attacked the Portland outfit at will. However, the second half was a different story as St Georges pushed more players forward and slowed down the pace.

In the 73rd minute, Daniel Shaw scored to keep his team in contention. Shaw glanced and saw goalie Shawn Sawyers off his line and cracked a beautiful shot from 25 yards that dipped under the crossbar, leaving Portmore fans stunned.

As Portmore hunted the go-ahead goal, they left their defensive territory inadequate. St Georges defenders broke up a Portmore attack in the 83rd minute and countered through Maurice Jackson and Denroy Dennis. Jackson passed to Dennis on the right side, who slipped the ball delicately past an advancing Sawyers into goal to make it 2-1.