Portmore throw salt into Benfica's wounds

Anthony Minott, Gleaner Writer

Benfica of St Ann continue to struggle in the second round of the Digicel Premier League (DPL), as they were whipped 3-0 by a resurgent Portmore United at the Ferdie Neita Park, in Braeton, on Wednesday.

The match was literally over as a contest from the first half, as Portmore pumped in three goals in 33 minutes. Zane Goulborne struck a double (9th, 14th), while the other goal came from Carlington Smith (33rd).

The win pushed Portmore to 24 points, and still fourth, while, Benfica remained on 18 points, but dropped to seventh place in the standings. They have been overtaken by Sporting Central who clipped St George's 1-0 at Lynch Park to move to 19 points. Tivoli, despite their 2-0 defeat by rivals Boys' Town, still lead the league with 29 points, whereas Boys' Town are third with 26 points, a point adrift of second place Waterhouse (27 points).

Promising first round

Benfica, one of two sides promoted to this year's premier league, had a promising first round where they amassed 17 points in 11 matches but they have only garnered a point, a 0-0 draw with Waterhouse this round. The club was also thrashed 5-0 by Tivoli in the first match of the second round.

Benfica's Andre Dixon was shown a red card by referee Dave Peterkin for a second bookable offence with eight minutes remaining in the encounter to throw more salt into his team's wounds.

"This is the second time we are registering a 3-0 victory this season, and I think the team played exceptional," said, Portmore United coach Linval Dixon. He added: "We dominated the game from the opening whistle and we should have scored more goals, but I think the team accomplished their mission. I just hope we can continue this trend going into our match against Harbour View on Sunday."

Benfica's coach, Conroy Brown, thought his team's performance was "lacklustre." "We had an unimpressive start to the game and had a poor first half. We, however, made some adjustments and played a better second half, and we should have scored but it was not to be," said Brown.