We played a disciplined game - Lewis
Published:Tuesday | October 25, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Anthony Minott, Gleaner Writer
Calvin Lewis, head coach of Portmore United, praised his team for playing with 10 men for 46 minutes and grinding out a 1-0 win over Boys' Town, in the National Premier League football match at Ferdie Neita Park on Sunday night.
With the win, Portmore moved to 14 points from seven games and are joined by Sporting Central Academy, which clipped Montego Bay United 1-0.
Both are a point behind leaders and defending champs, Tivoli Gardens (15 points), which drew 0-0 with Village United.
"We started the game brightly, we controlled the first half up until we lost that player (John-Ross Doyle) to a red card. (In) the second half we reorganised the team's shape. We played a disciplined game, we played behind the ball. The team talk was to play a disciplined game, and they really played with a good amount of discipline."
Lewis added: "We played a zonal game the second half where we shifted from time to time, we knew Boys' Town would concentrate their plays down the right side of the field, and we nullified their attacks."
Upston Edwards, a burly defender, scored the goal that clinched Portmore's fourth win of the season, to go with two draws and a loss. Edwards met an Alanzo Adlam cross to head home in the 22nd minute.
One-man advantage
"I told Edwards in training 'you are one of the tallest players on the team, you cannot go for a short corner, stay in the penalty box so you can score'," Lewis advised.
Boys' Town dominated possession in the second half because of the one-man advantage, but weren't able to crack the Portmore defence.
"I don't think we were very clinical in front of the goal," admitted their head coach, Andrew Price. "We got a number of chances and never put them away. You can't have a man advantage for an entire half and don't press home the advantage. Basically, Portmore sat behind the ball and looked for the counter-attack where possible."
Price added: "The only way we can win matches is by scoring goals, and we didn't do that today."