PORTMORE United and UWI FC played to a 1-1 draw to earn their first point in the Jamaica Football Federation All-Island Confederation Play-offs at the UWI Bowl, yesterday.

First-half goals for Portmore in the 26th minute from Rodian Jennings and a 45th-minute penalty from Ramoun Reid were enough to help the teams to a share of the spoils. Portmore were leading 2-0 in first-half action against Savannah last Wednesday when heavy rains created a waterlogged field which forced the referees to abandon the game.

Meanwhile, York played to a 0-0 draw against Savannah to take a firm lead in the play-offs with four points.

At the UWI Bowl, both coaches, Linval Dixon of Portmore United and Marcel Gayle of UWI expressed disappointment after failing to gather full points from the game.

Gayle was the more injured by the draw as “having lost our opening game it would have been a fitting result for our moral to win our home game. Today we were more into the game than in the opening game against York in St Thomas. But even with the 1-1 result the team has shown positive signs that we are getting back to where we were before the break, both mentally and physically. Taking a point, therefore, is a positive step in the right direction as we still have a long way to go”, Gayle added.

For Dixon, whose team appear in a better position than UWI, having played a game less, lamented to decision-making process of the team yesterday.

“Poor finishing and an uneasy showing of selfishness from the players could have cost us victory today”, Dixon said. “Despite that though it is always good to get a point, especially on the road,” he added.

It was a game that could have gone either way, but with poor finishing from both sides a draw was the best result.