It has taken former champions Portmore United three games to earn their first win of the new Jamaica Premier League season and head coach Lenworth Hyde could not be more relieved.

After drawing their first game then losing the second, frustration had already started to build in the camp, but a 1-0 win on Sunday over Cavalier FC has eased the tension and changed the mood as they moved up to sixth place in the tables.

Hyde believes that the injection of youth in the midfield was one of the main reasons for the turnaround in form for his team.

“We didn’t have two good results, the first two games. We did some work this week and we made some changes in the team. We brought in two youngsters, Markland (Burton) and Jahniel (Wray), they brought some energy to the team [and] lift the spirit of Demar Rose, who is slightly above them, so it augurs well for the team. The chemistry and the know-how and how I want them to play, I think they will grasp it soon,” he said.

“It will take a time to build that chemistry and the understanding and how the ball moves. It’s a work in progress,” he continued.

Hyde expects the win to lift the team significantly and make it better for the club going forward.

“This is a booster for the team…and this will lift the spirits in training. I always tell them that it’s not how you play last week, it’s how you train this week. So, I think the training will step up now, the intensity.

“The players that were out for this game, when they come to training, we should see the intensity and it should be easier for me to pick the team,” he noted.

Hyde wants to see his team play the normal Portmore possession game and believes that, in time, they will get there.

“I want more possession from the start of the game to the ending of the game. If we can do that, we can win more games, so we have to instil that in them, to pass the ball, to become patient with the ball and know the movement of their teammates and that’s what we are building at Portmore,” he stated.

Based on the performance and result on Sunday, Hyde thinks that things have now turned for the club and expects a lot more from the rest of the season.

“We can only get better from here,” he said with confidence.

Just how much things have changed for the better for Portmore United will be known on Sunday when they take on league leaders and the unbeaten Waterhouse FC who have won three from three.

— Dwayne Richards