‘Mature’ Arnett beat Portmore 2-1

Arnett Gardens head coach Paul Davis says their 2-1 win over Portmore United in the Jamaica Premier League was a result of hard work and team spirit.

Arnett earned the win with only 10 men on the field at the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex yesterday.

Arnett went down to 10 men when Ezran Simpson was ejected in the 53rd minute, Marlon Allen gave them the lead in the 60th minute.

Portmore rallied and equalised when Keni Charleston fired home in the 71st minute.

However, Ajuma Johnson set up Ronaldo Cephas for the winner in the 78th minute.

"This shows that they are a team and they stick together," Davis said after the game. "We went down to 10 men and we just stuck together and fought to the end.

"Down a man against a strong Portmore team, with kids who can move the ball well, it is good you can win a game like this.

"We really managed the game with the eight minutes to go, and once we made the changes, we knew we had the game."

Cephas and Allen had good chances for Arnett in the first half but could not make them count.

Portmore's Emelio Rousseau came close with a free kick which goalkeeper Eric Edwards pushed away for a corner.

Portmore coach Lenworth Hyde thought the result could have been different had his team been more patient with the ball after gaining the man advantage.

"The effort and intensity they showed through the 90 minutes was good but we need to be more composed," he said.

"Even with the man advantage, we were still passing a lot of long balls. We just needed to put the ball down, pass and be patient.

"That showed the inexperience of the team. We have to get them calmer and to be more composed. I figured we would have got a goal if we had built up properly and been patient."

The win put Arnett back in second with 27 points while Portmore remain seventh with 15.

In other games, Dunbeholden beat Montego Bay United 1-0 to remain atop the standings with 28 points. Molynes and Vere drew 1-1 and Humble Lion and Tivoli ended by the same score.

In today's matches at the same venue, Harbour View play Mount Pleasant at 5 p.m. and Cavalier meet Waterhouse at 7:30 p.m.