Woozencroft stars as MBU defeat Reno in Red Stripe Premier League football

WESTERN BUREAU:

Jermaine Woozencroft scored one goal and assisted in the other as Red Stripe Premier League champions Montego Bay United (MBU) outlasted FC Reno 2-0 in their western derby at Frome Sports Ground yesterday afternoon.

The midfielder entered play in the 79th minute and immediately looked the part as his calm presence on the ball and his eye for spectacular passes meant that MBU, who, up to that point, were lucky to be in the game, began to stamp their class.

Allan Ottey benefited from a Woozencroft corner kick in the 81st minute to score with an easy tap in.

Woozencroft then scored his team's second. The FC Reno defenders again were slow to shut the MoBay attackers down and Woozencroft capitalised with a simple pass into the goal, with Dennis Taylor, the Reno goalkeeper, wrong-footed.

The champions took a step up the standings on nine points, while Reno remain on seven points, following their first loss of the season.

Dino Williams' spectacular overhead effort in the 75th minute was the closest the striker got, while at the other end, Afiba Chambers watched his close-range header as it skipped off the crossbar for Reno's best effort.

Montego Bay United gave a start to Serbian defender Zvezdan Dordilovic, and he had a fine outing in tandem with Ronaldo Rodney and central defender Ladale Richie.

TEAM COHESION

Dillon Thelwell, MBU's assistant coach, believes the team is beginning to gel at the right time.

"The team is looking good right now. I think we are beginning to gel, and that's bad news for the opposition and good news for us as we go about defending our title," said Thelwell.

"Woozencroft was not looking too good in training, so we decided not to start him today (yesterday). I think that was a wake-up call for him and he came out here when he got his chance and put on a show as usual," noted Thelwell.

Reno's technical director, Wendell Downswell, said his team's failure to get a point from the fixture was as a result of two lapses.

"We will rebound, though. We never had much luck either way today, but we are looking for three points against Portmore in our next match," said Downswell.