Mt Pleasant…. 2

Stewart (77th), Jibbison (85th)

Faulkland FC….1

Johnson (22nd)

DRAX HALL, St Ann — A brutal 10-minute span late in the game when they lost both central defenders cost promoted Faulkland FC a possible upset in their first Jamaica Premier League game on Sunday as they were beaten 2-1 by Mt Pleasant FA at Drax Hall.

Faulkland FC, who had won the Jamaica Football Federation’s Tier II competition last season to earn promotion, led the contest for 75 minutes but had only a bitter lesson to show for their efforts at the end.

Hussana Johnson’s first-half goal gave the newcomers a shock lead over a wasteful Mt Pleasant but the dismissal of Jowell Powell after he got a second yellow card and the forced substitution of Michael McLoud left the St James team hanging on.

Trivante Stewart made up for his misses when he levelled the scores in the 77th minute, five minutes after Faulkland FC went down to 10 players and substitute Leonardo Jibbison scored the winner in the 85th minute — which was four minutes after McLoud was taken off with what appeared to be a broken nose sustained in a collision with a Mt Pleasant player.

Gregory Palmer, the Faulkland FC coach, admitted the expulsion of Powell affected the team.

“We could not get settled after the red card…the game plan was working but ,that is how it is,” he remarked.

The positive they took from the game, he said, was that he saw a lot of good from his team.

“Mt Pleasant started training before us and played in the league before but we held our own, so there are a lot of positives to take from the game,” he opined.

Theodore Whitmore, who guided the Mt Pleasant team in a competitive game for the first time, said the encounter was not as hard for his team as it looked.

“I would not say it was hard; we made it difficult. We created numerous scoring chances but didn’t convert, and I guess the Faulkland team made us work for it,” he reasoned to the Jamaica Observer.

Whitmore said his team had control of the game for most of the 90 minutes.

“It’s the first game [and] it’s good to get the first game out of the way. We will [now] look at what we did today and then move to the next game,” said the former Reggae Boyz head coach.

Mt Pleasant could have led 3-0 after the first 10 minutes but Stewart was woeful in front of the Faulkland goal, missing several chances from inside the 18-yard area.

Faulkland FC took the lead in one of their first forays into the Mt Pleasant area when Johnson, whose primary role is sitting deep in the midfield, finished off a lightning-fast counter-attack by lashing home a left-footed volley from just outside the area after a cross from the right side fell nicely for him.

Mt Pleasant had a chance to level the scores just minutes later but, once again, Stewart found the left upright — with the Faulkland FC goalkeeper stranded at the other side of the goal.

Stewart eventually atoned after he looped a header into the top right-hand corner of the goal in the 77th minute, and then Jibbison, who moved to the St Ann club from Vere United this season, capitalised on a confused-looking Faulkland defence in the 85th minute, lashing home from close range.

Teams:

Mt Pleasant FA — Tafari Chambers, Donovan Segree (Leonardo Jobbison-70th), Shaquille Dyer, Jamoi Topey, Sue-Lae McCalla, Kevaughn Isaacs, Ricardo Morris, Kimoni Bailey (Kesslon Hall-60th), Demario Phillips, Andre Fletcher (Ky-Mani Campbell-70th), Trivante Stewart

Subs not used: Daniel Russell

Booked: Isaacs (90+4)

Faulkland FC —Robert Morrison, Michael McLeod (Romario Clarke-81st), Husanna Johnson, Sajay Anderson Obrien Robinson-61st), Kymani Reid, Rodcliff Dawkins (Reno Edmonson-52nd), Val Armstrong, Ranaldo McLeish Tyshan Hill-52nd), Shanoy Anderson (Enrique Gordon-52nd), Prince Christie, Jowell Powell

Subs not used: Garrett Dennis, Chad Howell, Tariq Melvin, Rainnar Barnes

Booked: Powell (33rd), Hill (90+2), Powell (ejected 72nd)

Referee: Christopher Mason

Assistants: Kioney Denton, Desron Lewis

Fourth official: Daneon Parchment

Match commissary: Gregory Daley

— Paul Reid