Jubba's free kick saves tame Seba

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

Like he did in the team's first-round 1-1 draw against Cavalier Football Club, veteran midfielder Iton 'Jubba' Scott was the man on target for Seba United on Wednesday night as the Montego Bay outfit came from behind to earn another 1-1 draw against Highgate Football Club in their Digicel Premier League play-off fixture at Jarrett Park.

In a game in which Highgate looked quite purposeful and organised and Seba United looked disorganised, if not totally disjointed, the visitors took the lead in the fourth minute through Carlos Barrett. However, with time ticking away in the game, Scott popped up in the 79th minute to give the home team the equaliser.

"I thought we played quite well and deserve all three points but getting one point on the road is not a bad result," said Calvin Lewis, coach of the Highgate team. "I believe the way we played today should give the team a lot of confidence going into our upcoming games."

highgate dominate

After they took the lead when Barrett left the Seba defence for dead going down the left side, the Highgate team enjoyed long periods of dominance, and with a little more luck could have embarrassed Seba United, who were without regular coach Danilo Barriga, who walked out on the team hours before the game.

"We played flat today and gave our opponents too much room to play," said Seba United's stand-in coach Omar Clarke. "Thankfully, we were able to get a share of the points from that wonderful free kick by Jubba Scott."

While Highgate's coach Calvin Lewis left Montego Bay fairly satisfied and figures that all that his team requires at this point to be successful is a little fine-tuning, his Seba United counterpart was looking at a complete overhaul.

"We have to head back to the drawing board to sort out a few things ... two points from two games is definitely not what we wanted when the competition started," said Clarke, in evaluating Seba United's position. "We must improve if we hope to advance from this competition."

With Highgate putting early pressure on the Seba United defence, it came as no surprise when they took the lead as their opponents struggled for composure in defence. Kwesi Campbell flicked a pass to Barrett, who used his pace to break free before the goal. His well-taken shot gave goalkeeper Tristan Bernard no chance, making the half-time score 1-0.

Highgate continued to look the better team in the vast majority of the exchanges as, while their attacks were cohesive, Seba United's midfielders rarely got over the half-line, leaving their strikers without quality support in attack.

With time running out in the game, Highgate's appeal for what looked a legitimate penalty was rejected by the referee. With 11 minutes to go, Seba won a free kick 30 yards from goal and Scott's fabulous 'curler' gave goalkeeper Leighton Murray no chance.