Price not giving up after another humbling loss
Published:Monday | July 26, 2021 | 12:10 AM
Humble Lion head coach Andrew Price says it will be tough to raise the team’s morale after their fifth defeat in as many games in the Jamaica Premier League.
The Clarendon side went down 3-0 to Portmore United at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence yesterday and remain in 11th (last) place in the table.
But Price says that as long as he remains in his job, he will continue to try to get the most out of his players before the season ends.
“Everybody is upset with where we are, but I said it was going to be a very difficult season because for 15 months we didn’t play any football,” Price told The Gleaner. “We observed all the [COVID-19] protocols, and all the teams got a head start on us.
“We are changing personnel, and we are still conceding goals, so it is worrying form.”
Price said that his players need to be stronger and more competitive at both ends of the pitch.
“We have to keep fighting,” he said. “Football is a game of small margins, and Portmore used their opportunities today and we didn’t.
EFFICIENT TEAM
“We need to be stronger and more competitive in goal-scoring areas. Defensively, we were lukewarm, and you cannot play against an efficient team like Portmore and do that.
“It is going to be very difficult to catch up, especially for the ageing players as a lot of the other teams have younger players with a lot of energy, and I think that is where we are lacking right now – we don’t have the energy on the field.”
Portmore captain Ricardo Morris fired them in front in the 30th minute, and after putting their opponents on the back foot, Javick McFarlane extended their lead in the 58th minute.
National player Chavany Willis cemented the victory with a long-range strike in the 84th.
Portmore now top the table with 12 points. They have won four from their five matches, with one loss.
They have netted nine goals and only conceded two, but Portmore head coach Ricardo Gardner said there is much work to do if they are to continue their progress.
“We want to continue to grow and build as a group and a collective,” he said. “We would love to win every game, but first of all, we have to focus on the functions of the different areas, and once we do that, the results will [improve].
“I am very happy with where we are, [but] there is still a lot of work to get done. We just have to continue to believe and continue to trust the process and just continue each week to enjoy the training and each game at the weekend.”
In the day’s other game, Mount Pleasant defeated Arnett Gardens 1-0 through a Kesslon Hall goal in the 79th minute.
Today’s game sees Waterhouse taking Tivoli Gardens at the same venue at 3:30 p.m.