Advantage Portmore

Portmore United forward Jeremie Lynch delivered on his promise to score, as he got the winner for his team in the CONCACAF League round of 16 game at the National Stadium on Wednesday night.

Portmore clipped Panama's Plaza Amador 1-0 to take a slim advantage going into the second leg in Central America next Wednesday.

Lynch netted the game's only goal 73 minutes into the contest, turning home Ricardo Morris' low cross from four yards.

"We had confidence in ourselves. We didn't have all our players, but we knew what we had to do," coach Shavar Thomas said after the game.

In an evenly contested game, the home team started better in terms of bossing possession, but the Panamanians always looked to hit them on the break, although there were few chances for both teams.

The first real chance came after 21 minutes, but Plaza Amador goalkeeper Eric Hughes parried Michael Binns' shot for a corner. In the 35th minute, the Panamanians forced Portmore goalkeeper Shaven Paul into an equally tough save, parrying the ball for a corner.

Portmore started the second-half brightly, but wasted a great chance when Binns decided to shoot instead of passing to his overlapping striker. The visitors then wasted another good chance five minutes after when Jose Murillo fired over from 12 yards. A minute later, captain Ameth Ramirez hit high from 18 yards.

Lynch came the closest to scoring when his volley hit the post and rebounded to Morris, who was denied by an excellent save from Hughes.

But Portmore would go ahead on the next chance they created in the 73rd minute. Morris broke away down the left and produced a low ball cross the six yards box for Lynch to beat Hughes and a defender with a neat finish.

Portmore also had two other great chances through Roshane Sharpe and Binns, but could not extend their advantage to take into next week's return game in Panama.