Swaby haunts Humble Lion again
Waterhouse blank Dunbeholden in JPL action
Published:Sunday | July 4, 2021 | 12:13 AMDaniel Wheeler - Staff Reporter
For the second time in their last five meetings against Mount Pleasant FA, Humble Lion were undone by a blast from their past.
Former Humble Lion now Mount Pleasant striker Francois Swaby’s 68th minute effort was enough to give the St Ann-based club a 1-0 win in their Jamaica Premier League encounter yesterday at the UWI/JFF/Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.
Despite Humble Lion goalkeeper Mihkhail Harrison saving two penalties in the first half, they could not capitalise, slumping to their second straight defeat.
This is the second time that Swaby has got the better of his old club. His goal on March 3, 2019 was also the decider in his team’s win, which also finished 1-0.
Swaby was happy to get off the mark and help his team to their first win of the campaign.
“It’s just football. It’s my job and anywhere I go, I just try to do my best,” Swaby said.
Head coach Paul Davis was pleased with the improvement on last week’s 0-0 draw with Tivoli Gardens, which he credited to a change in formation to a 4-4-2 system.
DIFFERENT ENERGY
“I thought last week we had easier chances than (yesterday), but the energy was much different. We kept the ball well,” Davis said. “The most important thing that we emphasised is that we move the football a bit faster.”
Despite their winless start, Humble Lion head coach Andrew Price says there is no need to press the panic button yet.
“We just need to continue to improve our fitness,” Price said. “There is still a lot more to play for. We just have to get our fitness up to scratch where we can run with people for 90 minutes.”
Meanwhile, second-half goals from Ramone Howell and Shaquiel Beckford powered Waterhouse to a 2-0 win over Dunbeholden in the second game of yesterday’s double-header.
It was the first time the two sides were meeting since the passing of national player Tremaine Stewart in April.Stewart was connected to both clubs, as he was signed to Dunbeholden at the time of his death but played the majority of his top-flight career with Waterhouse.
Waterhouse’s assistant coach Damion Gordon reflected on Stewart’s impact.
“Tremaine Stewart was one of us. He was a Dunbeholden player but his last official game was with Waterhouse. We were saddened by his lost. Most of the players we were close with him as coaches and as staff,” Gordon said before assessing yesterday’s result.
“This game was one of those games where we came out to play football, nothing more. Offensively, we were on the ball today and that is why we got the victory with two goals.”
With two defeats to start their season, Dunbeholden’s assistant coach Ricardo Smith has demanded improvement from his team to make sure they do not fall further behind in this short season.
“This has set us way back. The league is very competitive with very good teams. It’s one round and if we want to be up in that top six when the knockout time comes, we have to do better,” Smith said.
Yesterday’s Results:
Mount Pleasant 1-0 Humble Lion
Waterhouse 2-0 Dunbeholden
Today’s Matches:
Tivoli Gardens vs Arnett Gardens 1:00 p.m.
Vere vs Portmore 3:30 p.m.
Tomorrow’s Match:
Harbour View vs Cavalier 3:30 p.m.