Arnett in control in race for sixth place

Western Bureau:

Arnett Gardens moved six points clear of Reno FC in the race for top-six spots in the Red Stripe Premier League, after second half substitute Kamal Malcolm netted an injury time winner in their 1-0 victory over their host at the STETHS Sports Complex yesterday.

Malcolm, who came on in the 69th minute, was in the right place to fire home from close range, when Lennox Russell wasted a straightforward chance.

"This was a game for six points and it was a good game of football. We played a disciplined game right to the end and of course we are happy with the result," said Arnett's head coach Jerome Waite.

It was a result that gave them back-to-back wins and one that should fire their drive up the standings, according to Waite while bringing Reno down to earth after their strong showing against the league champions last week.

Arnett began the game with more purpose and had three shots on target to dominate the first 30 minutes of the contest.

After settling, Reno began looking smooth in attacks although more often than not had their thrust rebuffed by the Arnett Gardens defence.

The game really sparked to life in the 50th minute, when Oniel 'Bigga' Thompson was made to clear Afiba Chambers' spectacular effort, when the Reno forward fired a volley, which beat goalkeeper Omarley Francis.

Reno coach Godfrey Drummond handed a start to returning striker Jason McLean, but the former MBU attacker, who was locked out of playing minutes at the champions, was only too happy to parade his skills once again for Reno.

However, he was found to be wanting too much, holding on to the ball far longer than necessary.

That aside, he did have two clean strikes at goal that had Francis scrambling to save.

With the match looking like a safe draw and the teams looking a sure bet to earn a point each, Russell found space inside the area to shoot, but his shot crashed against the upright and rebounded into the path of Malcolm, who made no mistake.