Former champions Portmore United FC remained competitive for a semi-final berth in the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) campaign with a gritty 1-0 win against Cavalier FC at Stadium East on Monday.

Jovan East registered in the 80th minute as a result from a throw-in to seal the points for Portmore United. The positive result saw Portmore leap-frog champions Arnett Gardens into second place on 53 points, three more than the champions.

“The win tonight was a very good confidence boost for us coming off of a series of poor results,” Portmore United’s Head Coach Jeffrey Hewitt said.

“We had to set a platform to redress and we saw this game as one that we can use to move forward as three points were well needed. We were well aware of the position the Cavalier team is in as their backs are against the wall, and [being] close to the relegation zone would not sit back, but offer a spirited fight. We had to conquer that as we are not satisfied with the position that we are in. We always strive for excellence in whatever we do as we think that number one should be our position,” Hewitt said.

Cavalier SC Head Coach Rudolph Speid said that he was very disappointed with the result. “We played badly in the first half but improved in the second half to the point where we had good opportunities to score as we took over the game and were heading for a better result when in the final 10 minutes of the game we fell asleep and conceded a very sloppy goal from poor marking. The result was not much of a surprise as three of our normal starters — Al Holness, Shawn Dawes and Oshane Jenkins were not present. However, we had a team talk at the break and the players buckled down to some good football on the resumption, but went to sleep in the closing stages of the game hence the unfavourable result,” Spied lamented.

Teams: Cavalier SC – Carlloyd Walters, Cleon Pryce (Dawyne Smith 85th), Shaquille Dyer, Norman Bailey (Akino Sadler 73rd), Jeffrey Henry, Jeffrey Grant, Andre Dawson (Ryan Miller 85th), Suela McCalla, Chevon Marsh, Kamoy Simpson, Jahwani Hinds

Subs not used: Courtney Dowdie, Shamar Smith, Nicholas Hamilton, Aldaine Grant

Booked: Grant (24th), Dyer (51st), Smith (89th)

Portmore United FC – Donan Atkinson, Upston Edwards, Domano Solomon, Osani Ricketts, Kareem Manning, Keno Gayle, Tramaine Stewart (Rodian Jennings 73rd), Ewan Grandison, Ricardo Morris, Mark Alves (Maalique Foster 53rd), Jovan East

Subs not used: Tyrone Williams, Ryan Wellington, Adoah Nickle, Kambuji McCalla, Henrico Ricketts

Booked: Gayle (18th), Ricketts (76th)

Referee: Valdin Legister

Assistant Referees: Richard Washington, Lloyd Edwards

Fourth Official: Karl Tyrell

Match Commissioner: Dudley Powell