NPL Round #35 Wrap-Up

By  reporter@jsleague.net

Wednesday May 06th , 2009

 

Arnett Gardens slow down the Portmore juggernaut

 

 

Former Harbour View player Kevin King scored in the 55th minute as the red hot Arnett Gardens edged champions Portmore United 1-0 at the Ferdie Neita Park last night.

King’s goal gave his former team Harbour View a lifeline in the Digicel Premier League, but they also dropped two points in a 2-2 draw with Waterhouse FC.

It was Arnett’s first win of the season over Portmore in their fourth attempt and slowed the Portmore Juggernaut as they marched toward defending their title.

Portmore started the day eight points infront of Tivoli Gardens and knew that a win would carry them closer to the title but they ran into a form team determined to finish in the top four.

Portmore which was suffering their fifth loss of the season, remained in pole position on 70 points but has seen their lead cut to five by the charging Tivoli Gardens.

Arnett with their fifth win from their last six games are unbeaten in their last 11 games and have climbed up the ladder impressively to 53 points in fifth spot.

In fact, the last time Arnett lost was on March 1, 2009 to none other than Portmore, so it was sweet revenge. The way Arnett are finishing this season might be an indication that they will be a serious force to be reckoned with next season.

 

At the Edward Seaga Stadium, home team Tivoli Gardens scored two goals in two minute in a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Boys’ Town and kept their title hopes alive.

With both teams meeting for the third time in 10 days and sharing a win apiece, the stage was set for another epic and exciting battle and the game surely lived up to the expectation.

Garfield Gillespie gave Boys’ Town a 14th minute lead but Roland Dean equalized in the 40th minute for his table topping 18th goal of the season.

But three minutes later, Peter Keyes restored Boys’ Town advantage in the process notching his 14th goal to be third in the goalscoring chart.

The advantage swung in the home team’s favour when Boys’ Town lost defender Wayne Ellis to his second yellow card in the 58th minute.

Tivoli with the man advantage, pressed hard but had to wait until five minutes before normal time for the equalizer and found the winner three minutes later.

 Oraine Simpson netted in the 85th And 87th minutes for his fifth and six goals of the campaign as Tivoli stayed alive in the championship race.

Tivoli with their five consecutive win, stayed second with 65 points while Boys’ Town which was losing their fourth straight game, remained on 54 points.

 

At the Compound, home team Harbour View were held to a 2-2 draw by Waterhouse FC and can call it quits in the title race.

The former champion are still eight points behind Portmore United and three adrift of Tivoli Gardens with three games remaining.

Kemar Lawrence gave them the lead in the 13th minute a lead they held until the 70th minute when Irvino English levelled the scores.

Jermaine Fletcher put Waterhouse in front in the 83rd minute before defender Clifton Waugh earned a share of the point for Harbour View.

Harbour View have been struggling of late and have not won in their last seven games but remained in third spot with a slender chance of being crowned champion.

   Waterhouse remained in sixth place on 46 points and are watching as Arnett Gardens streak seven points ahead.

 

In the relegation battle, Village United scored their third consecutive win coming from behind to beat St George’s FC 2-1 at Lynch Park, in Portland.

National Beach Futbol player, Jeff Pearce grabbed a brace in the 48th and 80th minutes to double his tally for the season to four.

Pearce is a hard tackling defender but has been asked by coach Cassman Williams to play upfront and he has been doing that admirable.

The Trelawny-based outfit are now on 33 points in 11th spot, just one behind Meadhaven and three behind ninth-placed Sporting Central Academy.     

Dwayne Holmes had given St George’s the lead in the third minute but as expected , they crumbled and was suffering their sixth loss in seven games and remained on 42 points in seventh spot.

 

Meanwhile relegation battler Reno FC suffered a major setback losing 1-2 to Rivoli United to remain rooted to the bottom on 29 points.

Devon Hodges opened the scoring for Rivoli in the second minute, taking his tally to 18, the same as Tivoli’s Roland Dean atop the goalscoring table.

Valentino Gardner doubled the lead in the 40th minute as Rivoli took a strangle hold on the game.

Gary McIntosh pulled one back for Reno in the 81st minute for his team’s leading ninth goal of the season.

Reno are now four points behind their nearest opponent Village on 33 points and five behind Meadhaven in their relegation dog-fight with three set of games remaining..

 

At Brancourt, Sporting Central Academy and Meadhaven United played to a hard-fought 2-2 draw in a result which really hurt both teams.

Former National Under-20 striker Keammar Daley scored in the 23rd and 71st minutes for Meadhaven United but goals by national midfielder JeVaughn Watson and Karl Wiggan in the 56th and 89th minutes, earned a crucial point for Sporting Central.

Clarendon-based Sporting which has fallen into the clutches of the relegation strugglers, earned a crucial point which inched them to 36 points, just three above the relegation zone with three games remaining.

Meadhaven which taught they had three points in the bag, remained in 10th-placed on 34 points with Village breezing down their necks in what will be an intriguing final set of games.

 

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