Dunbeholden win 3-1 in fiery clash at Drax Hall

Western Bureau

Leaders Dunbeholden FC held their composure in a heated encounter with Mount Pleasant to come away from Drax Hall in St Ann with a 3-1 victory in Jamaica Premier League (JPL) action yesterday.

The game saw Dunbeholden extend their unbeaten run to nine games but left a sour taste in the mouths of true football fans, with Mount Pleasant supporters putting their beloved venue at risk after missiles were launched from the crowd at an official.

Dunbeholden drew first blood, capitalising on a Ricardo Morris defensive error as Shaken Powell curled his shot past the goalkeeper Akel Clarke in the ninth minute.

Mount Pleasant found the equaliser 14 minutes later Trivante Stewart slotted home a low cross from the right.

The visitors reclaimed the lead with a controversial goal by Demario Phillips on the stroke of half-time. Sue-lae McCalla thought he had safely cleared the ball off the goal line after Phillips’ effort but the assistant referee, Garvin Carvalho, signalled a goal.

The hosts came out looking to get back into the game after the break but Dunbeholden stood firm. The Mount Pleasant players were convinced they scored in a similar fashion to the earlier controversial goal but this time the defender’s timing was spot on.

BRILLIANT SOLO RUN

While the home players were protesting assistant referee Carvalho’s call, Peter McGregor picked up the ball in his half and went on a brilliant solo run past the distracted defenders to curl his shot past goalkeeper Clarke to make it 3-1 for the visitors.

The goal saw the home crowd erupt in rage and start throwing implements, including bottles, at Carvalho. The game was halted for approximately nine minutes.

Assistant coach of Dunbeholden, Ricardo Smith, applauded the commitment of his players in a hard-fought victory.

“Any win, especially in a hard-fought game like this, you are going to be happy. The guys didn’t play the usual pretty football but, when the hard times came in the game, we stood out,” Smith said.

Nick Eaden, coach of Mount Pleasant, said, while he understands the nature of the game, he thought his players could have held their nerves better and refocused on getting a result after each setback.

“I think we got to deal with setbacks a bit better. A team might score against you but it’s just a goal at the end of the day, and you just have to get back into the game by continuing to play. It turned into a bit of a scrappy game in the second half, which doesn’t suit us. Then, we conceded a really poor goal, from our point of view, for the last goal, with the players switching off,” Eaden said.