'We want to play this mid-season final'

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

A STANDING ovation and hails of approval were what greeted the Arnett Gardens players as they made their way off the field, following their come-from-behind 2-1 triumph over high-flying Portmore United in their Digicel Permier League clash at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Sunday night.

It wasn't only the result that had the hundreds of fans who made their way to the venue so satisfied, but rather the self-belief and grit that was shown by their local heroes, who had started the second half trailing their more respected opponents.

However, whatever was said to the team at the interval worked wonders, as they returned to torment the Portmore United team, equalising in the 69th minute before marching on to take all three points.

Newly appointed coach, Paul 'Tegat' Davis, one of the best strikers ever to wear the black, green and gold of Jamaica, must take some credit for the team's turnaround.

The former Seba United, Village United and Invaders coach has led the team to 17 points in his nine games in charge, a period that has seen just two losses.

Davis, clearly pleased with the result, described the win as a psychological boost towards the ambitions of the club and underlined the fast-approaching second end-of-round final as a direct objective.

"I think that the nature of the win, considering we had to come from behind, will definitely lift the guys psychologically and, if this doesn't lift them, then I don't know what will," said Davis.

"Every game is important for us right now. We want to play this mid-season final, it is very high on our agenda and we are still on course. We also want to keep accumulating some points so that we can get out of the bottom six as soon as possible. Those are the objectives," Davis added.

The 'Junglists' showed real character as they recovered from a 24th-minute Ricardo Cousins strike.

Kirk Ramsay got things rolling with a 69th-minute equaliser from close range. Ricardo Smith completed the turnaround with 15 minutes to go with another close-range effort after pouncing on a rebound at goalmouth.

The win leaves Arnett Gardens on 17 points in the second-round table, two less than Portmore United, who still lead despite the loss. Arnett Gardens are now seventh in the overall tally with 28 points. Portmore United remain second on 36.

Very lethargic

Davis credited the second-half blitz to a different tactical approach and a greater level of responsive-ness from his troops.

"I think we were very lethargic in the first half and one of our central midfielders was not leaving midfield and getting into the box enough so, what we did in the second half, we changed our system to a 4-3-3 and pulled out the central midfielders," Davis explained. "This gave us a more attacking look and we managed to get a lot more players in attacking positions."

Portmore United's Jeffrey Hewitt, who was deputising for Linval Dixon, commended the victors and blamed his team's inability to capitalise on the chances they created.

"I really want to commend the Arnett Gardens team, especially in the second half. In terms of Portmore United, I believe this loss is down to poor conversion on our part," said Hewitt. "We knew that the Arnett Gardens team would come hard and press, we were expecting that but, unfortunately, we didn't manage to weather the storm."