Brace for Reggae Boy Johnson

LONDON (CMC):

Reggae Boy Daniel Johnson, a midfielder who deputised at left wing back, struck twice to spearhead Preston North End’s 3-1 victory at already-relegated Barnsley in the second-tier English Championship on Saturday.

Aiden Marsh gave the home side the lead, volleying home from Victor Adeboyejo’s 17th-minute cutback, but Preston took charge and were level six minutes later, after Emil Riis Jakobsen played in Johnson to score in the bottom right corner.

Johnson, 29, who was born in Jamaica but raised in England, scored again with an even better strike into the same side of the goal 10 minutes into the second half, before Danish forward Riis Jakobsen made the game safe with his 19th goal of the season.

Johnson, who made his debut for the Reggae Boyz two years ago, has netted eight times for 14th-placed Preston this season and also scored Jamaica’s goal in their 2-1 defeat against Mexico in a World Cup qualifier in January.

“It’s obviously never a good feeling when you go a goal behind, but we stuck to the game plan and moved the ball and stayed calm, and tried to open them up as much as possible,” Johnson said.

“We got the three goals and probably could have got more.”

Speaking about his preparation to play out of position, he said: “It’s been pretty much the same as normal, really; just go out and give it your all. I knew from yesterday, so I was trying to get my head around it, and that’s part and parcel of the game.”

In southwest London, St Kitts and Nevis international Michael Nottingham helped confirm League One side AFC Wimbledon’s relegation to League Two when he netted for mid-table Accrington Stanley – his eighth goal of the campaign – as the visitors edged a seven-goal thriller.

Playing at Plough Lane, first-half goals from Jay Rich-Baghuelou, Colby Bishop and 33-year-old Nottingham, a six-foot, four-inch defender, ended any slim hopes of a miraculous final-day escape for the hosts, although they did restore some pride with late efforts before going down 4-3.

In the southeast of the country, 27-year-old Guyana Jaguars winger Anthony Jeffrey helped sixth-tier National League South bottom club Billericay Town edge Eastbourne Borough 2-1 with a seventh-minute goal.

Jamaican striker Jamille Matt, 32, took his overall goal tally for the season to 20, but his first-half injury-time penalty proved to be only a consolation, as faltering Forest Green Rovers relinquished top spot in League Two for the first time since September, crashing 3-1 at home to 17th-placed Harrogate Town.