Village tame Lions in Falmouth

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

Village United added some momentum to their quest to break into the top six of the 2010/11 Digicel Premier League (DPL) yesterday afternoon, when a double strike by Aldaine Grant gave them a 2-1 win over Humble Lion at the Elleston Wakeland Youth Centre in Falmouth.

By virtue of their win, the Village United aggregation, which has garnered seven points in their last three games, increased their points tally to 40.

"We are now enjoying a most welcome turnaround in form in recent games and we are thankful," said Village United's coach, Norman Foster. "Our aim is to keep on winning, and that should take us into the top six and guarantee our place in the league next season."

Competitive game

In a competitive game, Village clearly had the better of the early exchanges and it was no surprise when they took the lead in the ninth minute.

Grant won possession before the goal and despite pressure from two defenders, he calmly side-footed into the goal, making the score 1-0.

In the 16th minute, Village should have doubled their lead but after breaking clear before the goal, skipper Troy Smith fired wide, much to the disappointment of his teammates.

Humble Lion came close to pulling level with back-to-back chances in the 17th and 18th minutes. Firstly, Ricardo Campbell's long-range shot was brilliantly saved by a diving goalkeeper, Keith Hamilton, and moments later, Hamilton made another spectacular stop to deny Wolry Wolfe's curling free kick.

Village doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time with a well taken goal in the 45th minute. Shavar Campbell dribbled up the right flank and picked out Grant with a superb pass and the latter's well placed header gave goalkeeper Shawn Sayyers no chance, making the half-time score 2-0.

Missed opportunity

Village should have widened their lead seconds into the second half when he latched on to a cross before the goal. However, in going for the spectacular, he hooked the ball over the crossbar.

Humble Lion dragged themselves back into the game in the 52nd minute when the alert Kevin Mighty found himself with space in the Village defence and drove his shot out of the reach of the goalkeeper, making the score 2-1.

Finding themselves back into the hunt, Humble Lion again came close in the 69th minute. The alert Mighty again won possession before the goal, but under pressure, he booted into the side netting.

With time running out and Humble Lion throwing caution to the wind and going all out for the equaliser, Village got a number of chances to punish them but wasted the opportunities.

The best of the chances came in the 83rd minute when Grant got away before the goal, but squandered the chance to grab a hat-trick by slotting inches wide of the goal.

Yesterday's results

• Sporting Central 1 Reno 1
• Village 2 Humble Lion 1
• Boys' Town 1 Portmore 0
• Arnett 2 Tivoli 2
• H View 3 Benfica 1
• Waterhouse 0 St Georges 1