BOYS’ Town jumped two spots into third place after battling to a come-from-behind 4-2 win over a youthful Sporting Central Academy in yesterday’s Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) match at the Collie Smith Complex.

Under very windy conditions, striker Shane Edwards gave Boys’ Town a rollicking start with a second-minute opener, but Sporting Central surprisingly took the lead courtesy of Jamoly Powell’s pair of well-placed penalty kicks in the seventh and 17th minutes, respectively.

Marvin Stewart (31st minute) tucked home neatly to restore parity for the hosts and added an insurance goal in the second minute of injury time — his strikes sandwiching teammate’s Nicholas McMorris’s successful penalty kick in the 70th.

With the win, Boys’ Town moved up to 40 points from 25 matches and could remain in third place if other results in this round go their way. Stuck in the lower half of the 12-team table, the Lenworth Hyde-conditioned Sporting have 29 points.

Coach of Boys’ Town Andrew Price was pleased with getting the maximum points from the keenly contested game, but expressed disappointment at the first half showing.

“I’m not too happy… I think we played in spurts. We didn’t have a particularly good first half after having the ascendency very early with that first goal. I think we got a bit complacement defensively and made some errors, and we gave up two penalties. We were behind 1-2 but we equalised before half-time and in the second half we played with a bit more aggression and we moved the ball around better and we got a couple goals,” Price told the Jamaica Observer after the game.

Assistant coach of the Clarendon-based outfit, Max Straw, also pointed a finger at defensive lapses and complacency within his ranks.

“I’m very disappointed because once we took the lead we wouldn’t want to concede after that. You can’t really give up four goals and expect to win.

“After taking the lead I think we stopped playing. Some of the midfield players stopped tracking back and it gave Boys Town more room to play,” Straw said, while adding that Sporting’s passing game also suffered after they took the lead.

In another game, Arnett Gardens clipped Highgate 2-1 at Drax Hall.

Teams: Boys’ Town — Kirk Porter, Hugh Evans (Ricardo Dennis 88th), Carlos Wright, Nicholas McMorris, Asrick Samuels, Daemon Benjamin, Garfield Gillespie, Renae Lloyd, Shane Edwards (Jermaine Allen 62nd), Marvin Stewart, Marvin Morgan (Adrian King 88th)

Subs not used: Leon Goffe, Richard Clarke, Fabian Francis, Khalil Johnson

Booked: Evans (16th), Lloyd (30th)

Sporting Central — Sanchez Lloyd, Andre Morrison, Camaal Reid, Anthony Bennett (Keith Kelly 64th), Francois Swaby, Linval Lewis, Cory Hylton (Leaunghn Williams 73rd), Jamoly Powell, Kevon Reid, Peter Brown (Kadian Wynter 44th), Formoso Mendez Gomez

Subs not used: Dale Watson, Dwayne Campbell, Derron McLeod, Michael Parcells

Booked: K Reid (37th), C Reid (44th), Lewis (65th)

Referee: Wilson DaCosta

Assistant: Sean Thompson Palmer and Lloyd Edwards

Fourth Official: Hugh Rankine

Match Commissary: Richard Nathan