Treasure Beach off the mark in the JPL

THE DROUGHT is over for Treasure Beach Football Club. They won their first game of the 2023 Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL) yesterday following a 1-0 win over fellow newcomers Lime Hall Football Club at the STETHS Sports Complex.

Courton Wright struck the all-important goal for Treasure Beach in the 54th minute in a game that could have gone either way.

In a very competitive game, 11 cards were shown by the referee. Two of these were red as Lime Hall ended the game with nine men. Rohan Sewell was sent off in the 69th minute and goalkeeper Jovelin Plunkett in second half injury time.

Both teams did little or nothing in the first half as they failed to create chances and took a while to settle.

Treasure Beach came out in the second half with high energy and fought hard to score. Their efforts were rewarded when Tavar Thompson made a beautiful pass across the field to Wright, and he struck home in the top right corner.

Lime Hall then came close to an equaliser when a shot struck the crossbar. In the 69th minute, however, Lime Hall were left with a mountain to climb when Sewell was ejected.

According to Omar ‘Rambo’ Wedderburn, the head coach of Treasure Beach, the team is elated for the home win.

“After 40-plus years a team from St Elizabeth has won in the Jamaica Premier League. We are happy for the home win. We planned to take these three points, no second thought about it. I hope this can push us to gain more wins. I am much different from any other coach because three points mean everything to me in any game,” an elated Wedderburn said.

David Price, head coach Lime Hall, said that the red cards changed the complexion of the game.

“We are disappointed to come and not go home with anything. When we got the red cards, we made adjustments. We were still pushing for it, but we just couldn’t get it in the end. We had about three good looks that even if we got one of them, we could end up with a draw. I don’t think we were outplayed even when we were down two players. We just were not getting the ball in the back of the net, and that is going to be a challenge if we can’t score at this level,” Price said.

He added: “It is our second straight defeat, and that is something we need to work on. It is still early in the competition, and we have to learn from the defeat.”

Yesterday’s results

Treasure Beach 1 Lime Hall 0

Vere United 1 Montego Bay 1

Dunbeholden 0 Portmore 2