ST JAMES, Jamaica – Montego Bay United (MBU) moved to within a point of the play-off spots after a hard fought 2-0 win over Vere United in their Wray And Nephew Jamaica Premier League second round game played at Wespow Park on Sunday.

MBU had to dig deep as they were forced to play the last 25 minutes with 10 players after Courtney Allen who had given them the lead in the first half, was sent off in the 65th minute after picking up his second yellow card of the game.

The win saw MBU move up to eighth place on 22 points, a point behind Waterhouse FC and Dunbeholden FC, all having played 17 games.

MBU’s head coach Neider dos Santos praised his players for their resilience saying “it was a tough match as always, every match is a tough one but we didn’t have a good first half, I didn’t like our first half, our players appeared unsure, our players started unsure, I don’t know why,” he told Observer Online.

He said that with “Vere playing too high, we didn’t have any space in the midfield to play short and our players insisted to play short (while) there was a lot of room in their back. We had to exploit that, we have very fast players. We did not do that in the first half.”

That changed early in the second half he said, “we could have killed the match right away because we had so many chances at goal that is a could be three or four but unfortunately we got (a red card) and then it was a problem but I have to compliment the players because even with 10 men, they worked extra and we didn’t have much major threat in our back. Even with 10 men we could have scored a third goal. So I’m happy that we did three points.”

Linval Dixon said the loss which extended their win-less skid to five games was “a tough pill to swallow,” saying lack of concentration had caused their downfall again.

“This was a really tough game to lose and we started the game really on the right foot you know, but of course again our concentration level let us don’t again by giving up those goals again it’s a tough pill to swallow,” he told Observer Online, “but at the end of the day we have to give Montego Bay credit, they really come out and work for it and they get the opportunity to get the goals and yes they won the game …we just have to have to find ways to focus the way we are to focus, as we lose our concentration too easily and it been plaguing us through the season.”

Both teams took a long time to settle and while the home team, created a number of chances, they had to wait until the 27th minute, just after a ‘cooling break’ when Allen caught the Vere United goalkeeper Roje Williams by surprise with a low hard shot that beat him at his near left post and into the goal.

MBU doubled the score in the 51st minute when a defender handled the ball inside his box as he tried to prevent a corner and Jean Claudio Rios Ferreira stepped up and buried the resulting penalty kick.

The home team were reduced to 10 players in the 65th minute when Allen, who had been cautioned for kicking away the ball after the referee had ruled in favour of Vere United just before half time, was cautioned again after a high tackle and sent off.

Dis Santos said they adjusted by ordering the defenders to stay in their own areas, allowing only Jourdaine Fletcher, Brian Brown and Owayne Gordon to attack on the break.

-Paul Reid