Humble Lion, Arnett in 1-1 draw

Nodley Wright, Gleaner Writer

It was a case of as you were at the end of 90 minutes of Digicel Premier League action between Arnett Gardens and Humble Lion at the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex on Wednesday. Both teams played to a 1-1 draw and retained their ninth and 10 places, respectively, in the 12-team league.

Kirk Ramsay gave Arnett Gardens the lead in the 48th minute before Shawn Coleman equalised in the 88th minute.

For Arnett Gardens, the game marked the end of a two-match stint as stand-in coach for Richard 'Charlie Chaplin' Bennett, while it was the fourth game without a loss for Humble Lion under the guidance of Lenworth 'Teacher' Hyde. The result, according to Bennett, was not a bad one.

"It was not a bad result. They put all into it and it is just football. The ball is round and you just have to go out there to win, and if you can't win, then you hold on to a draw and that is important," said a relaxed Bennett, who filled in after previous coach, Wayne Fairclough, walked away last Thursday, a day after losing a hard-fought match to Waterhouse.

Keeping focused

Bennett, who added that an arrangement for a new coach is in place and will be announced at the appropriate time, said that he got his players up for the game following their tough loss to Tivoli Gardens on Sunday by explaining to them that football is a game of winning and losing, but remaining focused is most important.

Humble Lion's Hyde was of the view that his team could have won, but was pleased with their performance.

"I was pretty confident that we could have won the game because I think we had an excellent first half. We hit the crossbar on two occasions and we had some good looks but, generally, I think the players did very well today. I think we had lots of possession. It is a team that we can work with ... there is a lot of scope for this team," Hyde said is his usual cool manner.

The game itself did not show much quality until after about 20 minutes of scrappy, aimless playing, punctuated by rash challenges and poor communication. As the game took shape, Humble Lion appeared the more composed and at home of the two teams, as they moved the ball around in a way that demonstrated that they were taking their lessons from coach Hyde seriously. Locksley Thomas looked like a player, while Cornelius Henry took the composure too far and, at times, tried to slow the game down to a stop.

Morgan's unwise move

Thomas let fly a number of long-distance efforts, but goalkeeper Julian McLeish handled them effectively. Arnett Gardens had a good opportunity in the 31st minute when Daniel Shaw took a free kick, quickly setting up Marvin Stewart. With time control and shoot, Morgan unwisely chose to attempt a back header which failed to trouble Shaw Sawyers in goal for Humble Lion.

Humble Lion should have taken the lead in the 40th minute when Thomas split the defence releasing Kevin Mighty. His solid left-footer from about 16 yards cannoned off the crossbar with McLeish beaten. They would strike the crossbar once more seconds later, this time the hard-running Fletcher did so from about 10 yards.

Arnett Gardens looked a more purposeful team in the early part of the second half and took the lead through Ramsay, who steered home a Vanado Manning miscue from outside the six-yard box. Manning was earlier set up by Shaw.

Lacking tactical discipline, Arnett Gardens went after Humble Lion and allowed the better-organised team to pick them apart. While Humble Lion were failing to make use of their better play, the feeling was that an equaliser would eventually come. It did in the 88th minute when Coleman, who looked very comfortable in midfield, powered home a header from a right-sided free kick as the Arnett Gardens defence failed to challenge for the ball or pick him up.