Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer
Santos' Damion McNeish (right) swings high and kicks the ball while Derronie Hall takes evasive action during their Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association/Jamaica National Super League match at Bell/Chung Oval on Saturday. The game ended 1-1. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer
Mountain View get the grand chance to show what one win can do when they tackle Greenwich Town in a rescheduled Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association (KSAFA/Jamaica National (JN) Super League match, at Excelsior High School at 3:30 p.m. this afternoon.
The east Kingston team currently sits second-from-bottom in the 12-team standings on six points, all amassed from half-a-dozen matches.
Should they win, they would jump half-way up the table to join Greenwich Town, who sit level on nine points with two other teams lying fifth through to seventh - Duhaney Park and Cavalier.
All teams in the league have played seven matches, but for these two, whose Saturday schedule was postponed due to a shortage of referees.
With this match (the only one on the cards), both teams will be looking to maximise their chances - Mountain View to move out of the relegation zone and Greenwich Town to leapfrog Duhaney Park and Santos into the top four with a victory that would push their tally to 12 points.
That would be four off leaders Police National, who stretched their position at the top to 16 points after turning back Meadhaven United (7 points) on Saturday.
The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) are holding up in second on 14 after tying 1-1 with Santos (10), a result which left coach Carlton 'Spanner' Dennis fuming as his team missed a penalty, and a chance to move wiuthin a point of the soldiers.
"I'm very disappointed," said Dennis. "We got a penalty early in the game and we kicked it away and we created a lot of chances and then we gave up a goal."
The teams were playing their first game in more than two weeks due to malaria concerns. This, Dennis said, affected his team's performance.
No proper training
"I think the long lay-off affected us badly because we weren't training properly and we just have to now survive until January," Dennis explained.
Meanwhile, JDF's coach Owen Nelson said: "My team did not play consistently well. This was due to the fact that we lost some of our key players because of injuries and our game plan and executions went wayward. However, I am still very happy for the draw."
Santos dominated the early proceedings and were awarded a penalty in the 15th minute. However, Fabian Nethersole failed to convert from the spot as his shot was well saved by former national Under-20 goalkeeper, Allien Whittaker.
Famion Buchanan gave the JDF the lead in the 40th minute when he fired home a cross from Kevin Mitchell past custodian Andrew Sewell.
After the break, Santos continued to dominate possession and were finally rewarded in the 81st minute when Sheldon Wedderburn headed home a well-placed corner kick taken by Damion McNeish.
In other matches, Bull Bay (12) moved into third spot with a 2-1 win over Cavalier; Duhaney Park (9) climbed to fifth by hammering Maverley-Hughenden (7) 5-0; while demoted Wray and Nephew National Premier League team Constant Spring (7) registered their second win, a 1-0 margin over bottom-of-the-table Barbican (3).
In other KSAFA/JN competitions, scores were:
Major League: Brown's Town 3 Central Kingston 0, Cooreville Gardens 4 Rae Town 2, Pembroke Hall 0 Real Mona 1, Seaview Gardens 1 Olympic Gardens 4, Shortwood United 0 Elleston Flats 2, University of Technology (UTech) 0 Rockfort 0.
Syd Bartlett: Liguanea 3 New Kingston 0, Maxfield Park 0 Port Royal 0, University of the West Indies (UWI) 1 Swallowfield United 2, Whitfield Town 1 Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) 2, Meadforest 0 Gordon Town 1.
