Vere stay perfect after win over Kemps Hill

Vere Technical High School have signalled early intentions of going deep in this year’s ISSA rural area daCosta Cup following a 2-0 win over Kemps Hill High in their Group N encounter at Vere yesterday.

The win, which is Vere’s second on the trot, sees them leading the group with six points from a perfect two from two and coach Rayon Smith made it clear that his side won’t be counting their eggs just yet as there is still a considerable amount of football to play.

“We are going to take it one game at a time and anything can happen,” said Johnson.

The contest was always going to be an interesting one with the home side Vere coming off a 9-0 hammering of Winston Jones High in their first outing while Kemps Hill had a surprising opening day draw against defending champions Garvey Maceo.

It was the hosts who started more purposeful as their talisman Omario Walters caused all sorts of problems for the Kemps Hill backline.

The home side could have taken the lead in the 16th minute when Malcolm Lennon’s shot from just outside the area slid under the grasp of goalkeeper Omario Chambers, but his quick reaction on the goal line prevented the ball from going over.

Walters thought he had got the opener on the half-hour mark, but he watched agonisingly as the ball rolled across the face of the goal after he had latched on to a partially blocked shot from Chambers.

MISSED CHANCE

With all the goalmouth action in Kemps Hill’s half, the away side almost silenced the home fans in minute 42, as Ajani Burton saw his header hit the post after goalkeeper Alex McLaughlin fumbled a long-range cross inside the box.

That missed chance would come to haunt Kemps Hill, as just before the halftime break, Walters was on hand to fire home a shot inside the area after a well-executed cross from Lennon.

Vere’s dominance would continue in the second half, as the dynamic duo of Lennon and Walters would combine for the second goal in the 75th minute.

It was Lennon who first found Walters with a right-sided cross, but the striker’s shot was blocked twice, first by the goalkeeper and a defender on the line, before Lennon tapped in the rebound from close range to seal the tie.

Losing coach Dwight Smith was hoping that his charges could have come up with a spirited performance as they did on opening day, but it wasn’t to be.

“Vere had the better run of play and they took their chances and we didn’t. We also made more mistakes than them and that contributed to the scoreline.”