St Catherine teams score narrow wins in JPL
DUNBEHOLDEN FC and Portmore United both scored narrow wins on Monday as they defeated Cavalier FC and Montego Bay United, respectively, to end match week eight with wins in the Jamaica Premier League.
Dunbeholden continued their winning streak over champions Cavalier with a 2-1 win which took them up to 16 points, one behind the top three who are all tied on 17 points in a tightly packed top four, while Portmore United edged the hapless Montego Bay United 1-0 in the feature encounter at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.
Cavalier started the encounter against Dunbeholden the better of the two but had nothing to show for their early dominance. They were caught with a sucker punch when Demario Phillips scored from close range in the 22nd minute to give the Harold Thomas-coached team the upper hand.
Dunbeholden then went further ahead when the league’s top striker Atapharoy Bygrave scored a real poacher’s goal after Vino Barclett spilled what was a regulation catch and he reacted quickest to prod home and make it 2-0 in the 39th minute.
The champions came out very purposefully in the second half and were gifted a way back into the game when they were awarded a penalty which was converted by Jamoi Topey in the 55th minute.
Cavalier pressed for the equaliser and dominated most of the second half, creating a number of chances in the process. It was left up to some last-ditch defending by the Dunbeholden defenders and some brilliant work between the sticks by Damion Hyatt to keep the score at 2-1 at the final whistle.
It was the fourth loss of the season for Cavaleir who remain in fifth position on 12 points.
Meanwhile former champions Portmore United secured just their third win of the campaign after Earon Elliott scored his first goal of the season just 11 minutes into the encounter.
The game turned out to be a drab affair as, after going up early, Portmore was more intent on maintaining possession than trying to score more goals.
The inexperienced Mobay United team struggled to get the ball off their opponents and failed to do much with it when in possession.
It was a quiet afternoon for Benjamin Williams in the Portmore United goal as he had very little to do for the 90 minutes.
Portmore created a few more opportunities in the second half and should have doubled their lead with the last kick of the game, but Jaheim Rose fired high from six yards.
With the win Portmore leapfrogged Harbour View into sixth position as they moved up to 11 points, one point and one place behind Cavalier.
Mobay United, who are now being guided by former Captain Dwayne Ambusley, remain at the foot of the table with four points from eight games.
— Dwayne Richards