Reno FC rescued by 'Beckham' beauty

Dalton Laing, Westmoreland Correspondent

A spectacular free kick from 30 yards by O'Brian 'Becham' Woodbine of Reno made all the difference between three points and one apiece, as they levelled to tie 1-1 with Village United of Trelawny at the Frome Sports Complex yesterday.

Reno had the better of play, creating most of the chances until a counter-attack - that started from a corner kick - in the 21st minute turned the tables after a foul was committed and Woodbine drilled home a beautiful goal.

Village, however, would square the tie before half-time.

The home team was caught on the backfoot and despite their scurry to cover, the counter ended after a Dino Williams dribble was supported by way of a pass to Graeme Green, who shot to the right of Gavine Barrett in the Reno goal and scored the only goal of the first half.

"The second half was a sort of tug of war, but I still think we had a little better of the play and we could have won it in the end," said Village's coach, Christopher Russell. "But a point away from home is always good for me."

Technical director of Reno, Wendell Downswell, was not as happy, but satisfied that he did not suffer a loss.

"We had the better of the play, so if we had been a little more clinical in and around the 18-yard box, we could've at least gotten another goal. But getting a point coming off a rest is satisfactory."

Reno stayed fifth in the 12-team competition by advancing to eight points, while Village moved up to six points, still third from bottom.

On Sunday Reno will play the second of three straight home games when they host Portland's St Georges, while Village will host Sporting Central at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium.

In other matches yesterday, Waterhouse stayed level at the top of the standings on 13 points with Portmore by beating Tivoli Gardens 1-0 through Jermaine Anderson's 86th-minute headed goal.

Tivoli remained fourth on nine points, one ahead of Arnett Gardens and Benfice, which drew 1-1 at Drax Hall.