RETURNING to a community he has not played for in more than 15 years, Fabian Dawkins scored in the dying seconds of time added for August Town to clip struggling Portmore United 1-0 in their Digicel Premier League match at the UWI Bowl yesterday.

Donovan Hibbert floated the ball into the box as goalkeeper Garrice McPherson tried to pluck it to safety, but the ball rebounded out of the crowded area for Dawkins — well-marked for most of the match — to find room and hit home.

August Town coach Paul Young believed spiritual guidance gave them victory.

“We give God thanks. We went to church for the first time and this was the reason for our victory. We have been doing a lot of things differently… we were lethargic but this win is for the August Town community,” he said.

With Daniel Shaw out after picking up his share of yellow cards, August Town struggled to find their feet.

Portmore ran a tight defence with Anthony Modeste taking care of business around the back.

Portmore coach Neville ‘Bertis’ Bell made note of the very breezy afternoon.

“The conditions were not good for football. August Town lost twice to us before and they wanted to make sure that it would not happen a third time… it’s not the start we wanted for the third round, but this is football. We just need to improve in front of goal,” he said.

August Town have now moved to 25 points, two more than Portmore, but both remained in the bottom half of the league tables.

Teams:

August Town — Devon Haughton, Kevin Henziel, Dean Paul Grandison, Ajuran Brown, Rohan McDonald, Marvin Stewart, Raymond Williamson, Kemar Cockburn (Donovan Hibbert 57th), Aphas Bernard (Kemel Mullings 84th), Jermaine Fletcher (Mervin Miller 46th)

Subs not used: Diego Haughton, Akeem Thenstead, Dwight Morgan

Booked: R Williamson (85th), F Dawkins (90th)

Portmore United — Garrice McPherson, Anthony Modeste, Adrian Reid, Andrae Campbell, Adrian Mitchell, Mario Harrison, Ricardo Cousins, Michael Binns, Kemeel Wolfe (Bryan Bayliss 63rd), Roen Nelson (Tramaine Stewart 87th), Carlington Smith (Gary McIntosh 73rd)

Subs Not Used: Maurice Evans, Tyrone Sawyers, Andre Darby, Shauntel Mundle

Booked: None

Referee: Oneil Clayton

Assistants: Stephen Brown, Lloyd Reader

Fourth Official: Clint Reid

Match Commissary: Andrew Payne

— Paul Burrowes