Benfica extend miserable start for St Georges

Gareth Davis Sr, Gleaner Writer

The new interim coach of Benfica, Courtney Brown, left Lynch Park in Portland a happy man on Sunday night, following his team's 1-0 victory over St Georges in their Digicel Premier League encounter.

In the clash among teams from the Eastern Confederation, it was an own goal which decided the fate of home team Georges, who have now lost their fourth game in a row.

"We are happy for the three points," said Brown. "The team played well and we got our just reward. The team is growing in confidence and our fans can now expect favourable results whenever we go on the field of play. We have now secured back-to-back victories against quality teams.'

Unpredictable

It was one of those games which could have gone either way, and despite the skill of Devor Orgill who scored two goals against Harbour View on Friday in an under-21 game, St Georges were let down by poor finishing.

Whille Benfica also squandered numerous scoring opportunities, it was the work of Craig Gordon which led to the goal, at the ninth minute He dribbled down the right flank and crossed to the unmarked Damion Newton, who lobbed the ball towards the advancing goalkeeper. It ended up in the back of the net after brushing the shoulder of a defender.

Afterwards, the first half remained relatively quiet, with the exception of some skilful moves from Gregory Tape, Gordon, Newton, and Andre Dixon, that forced St Georges to defend.

Shortly before the half ended, Benefica had a player, Sheldon Battiste, sent to the Annotto Bayhospital after he was cut over the left eye during a clash of heads with Orgill. Battiste later received stitches.

The second half saw both teams enjoying good runs, but poor finishing prevented any change in the score.

No penalty

At one stage, when Orgill - after beating two defenders - went down under a challenge in the box at the 81st minute, the home crowd thought they had won a penalty. However, it was not to be as the striker was shown a yellow card for 'diving'.

"Yes, we have lost our fourth game, but we are not panicking," said Raymond 'Munzie' Gordon, the assistant coach of St Georges. "We still have time to recover from this miserable start, but we are missing two key players in captain Jermaine Taylor and our playmaker Leon Irving. Both will be back for the Portmore game on the 26th. Our fans are hungry for points, and we will satisfy their appetite pretty soon."