Cephas solo effort gives Arnett second JPL win
Published:Tuesday | February 15, 2022 | 12:12 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
ARNETT GARDENS’ striker Ronaldo Cephas scored a brilliant solo goal to lead Arnett Gardens to a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Vere United in their Jamaica Premier League (JPL) encounter at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence yesterday.
Cephas, who tormented the Vere United defenders with his quick dribbling skills, opened the scoring for Arnett Gardens in the 35th minute.
Marlon Allen scored the second goal for Arnett Gardens in the 35th minute while veteran Francois Swaby scored for Vere United in the 64th minute.
Cephas scored his goal after he collected the ball on the half line and dribbled his way past four defenders to unleash a thunderbolt past custodian Michael Panton.
HARD WORK
Cephas, who was scoring his second goal of the season, was elated with his performance.
“I am very happy for that goal because I worked hard in training and it just showed out there in this game,” Cephas said.
“I know that once I continue to work hard then the goals will come because I want to become leading goalscorer in the premier league this season,” he said.
Arnett Gardens, who were winning their second match of the season from five games, doubled their advantage in the 41st minute when Allen popped up inside the 18-yard box to head home a cross from Steve Clarke.
However, the Donovan Duckie-coached Vere fought back gallantly in the second period, creating several clear-cut opportunities.
They were finally rewarded when Swaby eluded his marker inside the 18-yard box to tap the ball into the back of the net to reduce the deficit for his team.
However, Arnett Gardens defended stoutly for the remainder of the second period, keeping Vere United out from levelling the score.
Arnett are fifth in the standings with eight points, one behind fourth-place Cavalier.
“We are happy for the three points because it will instill some confidence in the team,” said Paul ‘Tegat’ Davis, coach of Arnett Gardens.
“However, I didn’t like how we managed the game in the second half because we were leading two nil and we started to rush the game and that was not good from us,” he said.
The defeat was Vere United’s fourth from five games this season. Duckie said he is now becoming worried about the team’s form.
“There are always concerns when you lose games and so we just need to get better,” said Duckie.
In the second game of the double-header, Tivoli Gardens and Montego Bay United played out a 1-1 draw. Ewan Barton opened the scoring for Montego Bay in the second minute before Warner Brown netted the equaliser in the 10th.