Georges nail Portmore 3-1

Gareth Davis Snr., Gleaner Writer

St Georges' coach Braxton Hyre was elated with the effort of Dwayne Holmes, who scored a second-half brace to give his team a come from behind 3-1 victory over visiting team Portmore United in their Digicel Premier League football match yesterday.

Georges improved their chances of playing in the second End-of-Round final by moving to 17 points, the same as Boys' Town. Harbour View, which hosted Village United in last night's late game, started the match with 17 points as well.

Waterhouse, on 23, have already qualified.

Georges also moved to fourth in the overall standings on 35 points, one more than Boys' Town. Portmore remained on 22.

Match conditions

The match was played under slippery conditions at Lynch Park, which is a happy hunting ground for the home team.

"We played well to secure all three points," Hyre said. "Portmore quickly adapted to the wet playing surface in the first half but in the second half, my team made the necessary adjustments.

"It is nice to enjoy such a margin of victory and I believe the chemistry and unity is now back with the team. We have to stay in touch with the leaders and our aim is to give our best in the third and fourth rounds."

The other goal for Georges came from the boots of stand-in captain Leon Irving, while Kemeel Wolfe scored for Portmore in the first half.

Portmore enjoyed the better of play at the start and their early attacks quickly paid off when a ball was played near the edge of the 18-yard box to Wolfe, who escaped two defenders before firing past goalkeeper Randal Huie in the fifth minute for a 1-0 lead.

Despite their continued dominance, Portmore failed to increase their lead.

Different team

In the second half, Georges looked a completely different team and surged forward in search of an equaliser. They were rewarded in the 56th minute when Girvan Brown was brought down inside the 18-yard box and they were awarded a penalty. Holmes banged the spot kick into the left side of the goal for Georges to pull level.

Five minutes later it was 2-1 when Irving received a pass from Gary Banton and quickly left two defenders in awe, before firing home a powerful right-footer in the 61st minute.

The issue was put beyond doubt when André Darby of Portmore was shown the red card for hand ball inside the box and Georges got another penalty in the 84th minute. Holmes calmly took the resulting spot kick, placing the ball to the left of the goalkeeper for 3-1 victory

Desmond Smith, who took up coaching duties in yesterday's game for Portmore, said the wet conditions affected the performance of his team.

"We really tried, but it just didn't work for us today, "he said. "Clearly Georges adapted better to the playing conditions in the second half and I believe that the red card also hurt my team."