Upfront ahead in LIME Division One

Andrew Hancel

Saturday, February 04, 2012

Upfront United hammered Watson Grove FC 5-0 in round 13 of the LIME/St Catherine FA Division One on Thursday, which propelled them to two points clear of Travellers FC, who impressively won 4-0 at Waterford.

Gawain Smith's double strikes in the fifth and 17th minutes, sandwiched Sievon Thompson's goal in the ninth, as the visitors lead 3-0 at half-time. Smith is now the top goalscorer in the competition with nine goals.

A shell-shocked Watson Grove then fell further behind 13 minutes into the second half when the in-form Suelae McCalla scored his seventh league goal this season.

A response from Watson Grove, who scored a shocking 2-1 win away at Old Harbour Bay last Saturday, was never going to happen and Raymar Predergast's goal in time added condemned them to their sixth loss of the campaign.

A double strike from Delroy Perez (70th and 90th) capped a fine second half display for Travellers FC, who recorded a fantastic 4-0 away win over Waterford FC.

Travellers, who like Old Harbour Bay suffered defeat to another struggling club in the form of Benbow FC, started brightly when Howard Brown hit the target in the 24th minute. But it was Venton Freckleton's goal in the 67th minute which opened the floodgates for a deserved victory.

Meantime, the remaining matches in round 13 will be played today with Albion United entertaining Flamingo FC, while Benbow United await Old Harbour Bay at Cheesefield.

Coach Marlon Johnson will be furious at his players after suffering their first home defeat and second loss in the league and he'll be demanding nothing but victory. Of course the pressure will certainly be on the former league leaders, who have had a fantastic run of 11 straight wins in all competitions, while knowing that victory will see them join Upfront atop the table.

But their trip to Cheesefield is a tricky one, as the hosts are on a high after their 1-0 derby win over Travellers. Benbow will have a point to prove that Saturday's massive win was no fluke, buy they could be hurt by an Old Harbour Bay unit desperate to make amends.

With just two wins and three drawn games, Albion are a struggling side, while contrastingly Flamingo seem to find ways to win to stay in the top four.

At home, Albion will fancy their chances for at least a point and Flamingo will be well aware of their threat after being held to a 0-0 tie when they first met in round one at Gordon Pen.

Meanwhile, two matches are on the LIME/St Catherine Major League with fifth-placed McCooks Pen FC hosting Portsmouth, who are in seventh and seeking a third straight victory.

Police will travel to Homestead where they'll play DB Basovak, who has collected only three points from their last five matches.

All matches start at 3:00 pm.