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1-0 win a morale booster for Portmore

Published:Tuesday | March 8, 2022 | 12:09 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
Cavalier’s Kyle Ming (front) gets away from Dunbeholden’s Rushawn Taylor during a Jamaica Premier League match at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence yesterday. Dunbeholden defeated Cavalier 2-1.
Kenyon Hemans
Cavalier’s Kyle Ming (front) gets away from Dunbeholden’s Rushawn Taylor during a Jamaica Premier League match at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence yesterday. Dunbeholden defeated Cavalier 2-1.

Lenworth Hyde, head coach of Portmore United, says yesterday’s hard-fought 1-0 victory over Montego Bay United in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) will instil a lot more confidence in his team as this is the first time they were recording back-to-back wins in the competition this season.

Earon Elliott scored the winner for Portmore in the 11th minute with a brilliant curling effort against the run of play at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.

The victory moved Portmore from eighth spot up to sixth place on 11 points in the 12-team standings.

“We are very happy for this win because this is the first time we are securing two straight victories this season,” said Hyde.

“I know that it will do a lot for the confidence of the players, but we are not going to get carried away because we have to remain focused on the task at hand,” he said.

The victory was Portmore United’s third of the season from eight games and Hyde said he is hoping that his team maintains this form for the remainder of the competition.

“We just want to continue winning games,” he said.

In the opening match of the double-header, Dunbeholden continued their dream run in this year’s JPL competition by clipping defending champions Cavalier 2-1.

Demario Phillips in the 22nd minute and Atapharoy Bygrave in the 39th were the scorers for Dunbeholden. The 28-year-old Bygrave is the competition’s leading scorer this season with seven goals.

National defender Jamoi Topey scored for Cavalier from the penalty spot in the 55th minute.

The victory was the St Catherine-based Dunbeholden’s fifth of the season from eight matches.

Paul Christie, manager of Dunbeholden, said they were very happy for the victory because his team had to pull out all the stops to get the win.

“It was a really tough one, but we felt good that we were able to get past the defending champions,” said Christie. “We have put in a lot of work and we hope to continue to get better and a victory like this will do a world of good for the confidence of our players,” he said.