Boys' Town run St Georges into the ground

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

Boys' Town set the tone for their assault on the 2010/11 Digicel Premier League title, with a comprehensive 2-0 win over St Georges Sports Club in their opening third round encounter yesterday at Collie Smith Drive.

The Red Brigade took the lead through a first half strike from Anthony Bennett (37th), before Renae Lloyd (68th) secured the victory.

The win marked six consecutive unbeaten outings for Boys' Town, which moved to 39 points, as they seek to keep pace with Tivoli Gardens and Portmore United, which started the day at the head of the pack on 38 points.

First goal

It was, however, bottom placed St Georges which should have registered the first goal of the game, when Boys' Town failed to effectively clear a corner in the 27th minute. The ball fell to Oneil Brown on the edge of the six-yard box, but he hammered his effort over the crossbar.

The home team's first clear chance on goal came in the 37th minute and they made it count. Their custodian, Philmore Crumbie, made a long clearance, which was expertly controlled by Lloyd on the right flank. He then played a brilliant cross-field pass to Bennett, who took the ball neatly on his chest, before firing an unstoppable shot pass the helpless St Georges keeper, Randal Huie.

Boys' Town, as is customary, came out running hard in the second half and St Georges had no answer to their quick ball movement as they dominated possession.

They were rewarded in the 68th minute as after doing some brilliant work on the right side of St Georges' area, Xavian Virgo picked out Lloyd just inside the six -yard box. He took one touch to settle the ball before getting off a powerful shot, which beat Huie at his near post despite him getting a touch.

Boys' Town's coach, Andrew Price, did not believe his team played particularly well, but was pleased with the result.

Happy with result

"We didn't play particularly well but I am happy with the result," Price stated. "I think we could have been a lot more aggressive throughout the game and maybe we would have been able to get a lot more opportunities, but it is a work in progress."

Geoffrey Maxwell, the coach of St Georges which have 20 points, was not surprised that his team failed to record a fourth consecutive victory.

"To be very honest, I thought we lost the game before we actually came out on the field because of the time frame that the team arrived," Maxwell explained. "I also looked at the body language and I wasn't happy with it, so in the back of my mind I knew something would happen differently."