MBU, BT in wasteful draw

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

In a game in which the two teams probably showed too much respect for each other, second end-of-round champions Montego Bay United (MBU) and visitors Boys' Town ended 0-0 in Wednesday night's 2011-12 Red Stripe NPL fixture at the Montego Bay Stadium in St James.

As a result of the shared points, MBU have burst into the top six of the league, moving up to 33 points. Boys' Town also maintained their top-six place, themselves moving up to 36 points.

For MBU's Brazilian coach Nedier Dos Santos, whose team has not lost a game since their second round campaign started, the result was acceptable, albeit not the result they had desired.

"We could have done better but when you miss so many chances, you begin to put pressure on yourself," said Dos Santos. "When you consider that we spent most of the first round near the relegation zone, it is good that we are now up into the top six."

The Boys' Town camp, cognisant of the fact that the team had not fully recovered from a recent KSAFA Jackie Bell semi-final game, felt the team did well and believe the one point was just reward for their efforts.

"MBU had the better of us in the first 20 minutes, but once we settled down, I believe we were the dominant team," said Boys' Town's coach Andrew Price. "We battled hard for the 90 minutes and showed a lot of character. Had we done better with our chances, the result could have been different."

MBU got off to an enterprising start, putting early pressure on the Boys' Town defence. However, early missed chances by Mouracio Gordon in the first and sixth minutes robbed the Montego Bay team of a chance to grab an early advantage.

Boys' Town eventually came into their own midway the first half and wasted a glorious chance of their own in the 18th minute, when Michael Campbell broke free on the edge of the penalty area but had his shot charged down on the goal line.

In the 28th minute, MBU again came perilously close when Jermaine Woozencraft curled a long-range shot just wide of the goal. The visitors countered two minutes later when Marvin Stewart fired tamely at the goalkeeper after breaking free before the goal.