ONLY nine goals were scored in the Digicel Premier League (DPL) last Sunday as teams find it more difficult to find the back of the net.

Since the start of the season 186 goals have been scored between the 12 teams in 16 rounds at an average of 11 goals per round.

The art of goals scoring is not an easy one as Arsenal’s captain Cesc Fabregas finds out. He has urged his manager Arsene Wenger to sign a target man in January because the squad is too short in stature and require “a different kind of option” up front.

What he is saying is that he wants a striker with a physical presence who can hold the ball up, and to borrow a basketball terms, “draw the double team”.

Locally, champions Tivoli Gardens have found that person in the towering Owen ‘Barry’ Powell standing at approximately 6 ft 5 in.

Before the start of the season, Tivoli’s frontline was considered the most feared with three national strikers in Roland Dean, Navion Boyd and new signee Keammar Daley.

They all started with a bang with Dean notching four goals before being sidelined with a thigh injury, Boyd has six and Daley three.

But since the end-of-round final on November 8, which they won, Tivoli have struggled but in the process they have discovered a raw but potent talent in Powell who has so far banged in five goals as Dean’s replacement.

Tivoli coach Lenworth Hyde thinks Powell is the find of the season so far. “Most definitely. Barry has been giving us the goals, it is excellent for the team”.

Hyde continued: “Coming up from the Under-21s and he is a player that didn’t play any Manning Cup, just raw talent and we just have to keep working on him. He is training very hard, he is the first one at the training sessions that’s why he is scoring some goals right now.”

Powell, looking like a slimmer version of Emile Heskey, came on as a substitute in the 83rd minute against Village United on October 11 and scored twice in the 90th and 92nd minutes in a 4-0 win.

He has not looked back since scoring against Waterhouse, Arnett Gardens and Humble Lions.

For Humble Lions, it’s the opposite. They have struggled all season and have scored just 12 goals from 16 games, while conceding 21 times.

Those statistics have held them in the relegation zone as they currently occupy 11th spot with 12 points.

Humble Lions’ main striker Kevin Mighty, who scored the first goal of the season in the third minute against Tivoli Gardens, had to wait until last Sunday to register his second against Boys’ Town in a 1-2 loss.

Humble Lions coach Christopher Bender is obviously worried and will be busy in the transfer market come January.

“We started looking around in areas we need to strengthen and as you can see, one of the main areas is that we are short on offensive options,” Bender said.

“It would be frustrating if we were not creating the chances. But what is frustrating is the conversions. We need to improve on our conversion rate. Once we can get that the team will be in good stead,” said Bender.

The lanky midfielder Kimroy Davis and veteran midfield general Errol Wilkie are the team’s top scorers with three goals each.

But has difficult as it is for Humble Lions, they are not the worst offensive team. August Town have so far scored only 10 times, while conceding 25 times and are rooted to the bottom of the table with 11 points.