Poor finishing; frustrating end

Richard Bryan, Gleaner Writer

Once referee Kevin Thomas blew his final whistle at Brancourt yesterday, home coach Donovan Duckie flung the small bottle of water he had kept in his hand agonisingly to the ground.

It aptly summed up his frustration when in perfect weather conditions and on a lush, green outfield, his Sporting Central Academy side had only one goal and a point to show for their efforts against spirited St Georges Sports Club, in their Digicel Premier League football match that ended 1-1.

Delroy James' sixth-minute strike to hand the visitors the lead and Gregory Lewis' deflected effort past Randal Huie for Sporting's equaliser in the 21st minute were unsatisfactory returns that did marginally little to change either team's position in the 12-team league.

Sporting held on to their threatened sixth place on 34 points, while St Georges stayed rooted to the bottom on 22.

Numerous chances to score were in equal measure to those missed and the let-off at either end for both goalkeepers painted a depressing picture for the small band of fans, as well as reflections of the poor state of the teams' attacking armoury.

After conceding that his team played well, given their generally poor run of form, St Georges' head coach, Geoffrey Maxwell, was pretty blunt about where their fault lies.

"This was the game I told them we could use to start turning things around, but I hope the forwards can get in their head that football is really a simple game."

Shots rebounded

He reckons, and correctly so, the game could have ended 2-2, or 3-3 and/or preferably a close, high-scoring win even against the background that his side had two shots that rebounded from the goalposts.

Sporting, as expected, had the lion's share of the possession and, especially in the second half, far more opportunities around the six-yard box to score. The draw is a rebound from their away loss to Tivoli Gardens, while Lewis' goal broke a five-game drought that dates back to the penultimate game in the second round when Gary McIntosh scored in a 1-1 away draw to Reno.

McIntosh was missing from the line-up, so too the Watson brothers - Jevaughn and Dale - and Levaughn Williams. The absences provided Lewis with a rare opportunity to play from midfield, and even he would confess he missed a glorious chance to mine a hat-trick.