Lion feed MBUFC a point
Published:Tuesday | November 1, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Adrian Frater, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
Struggling Montego Bay United Football Club (MBUFC) benefited from a spate of missed chances by Humble Lion and in the process took a point as the teams played out a 0-0 draw in their 2011-12 National Premier League (NPL) football fixture on Sunday night at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in St James.
"Everything went wrong for us today ... we just did not turn up," said Lenworth Hyde Snr, coach of Humble Lion.
"We created numerous chances, and it is sad that we did not even put away one. A point from this game is just not acceptable, we should have taken all three points," he added.
By virtue of the draw, Humble Lion, which started the game in mid-table of the 12-team competition, increased their tally to 12 points, while MBUFC, which remain one place from bottom, moved up to seven.
Squandered opportunity
However, for MBUFC and their new coach, Brazilian Neider Dos Santos, the result was acceptable as according to the coach, who had a stint at Village United last season, the players were able to implement some of the drills he had worked on with them in the five days since he joined the club.
In a game in which both teams started slowly, Humble Lion got the first clear-cut chance in the 10th minute when a ball deflected to Lenworth Hyde Jr, but he completely misread the flight and squandered the opportunity.
Five minutes later, MBUFC got a similar opportunity but Allan Ottey fumbled before the goal.
Midway the half, Humble Lion took control and squandered good chances in the 23rd and 25th minutes. First, Mark Miller broke free from midfield, but lost possession inside the penalty area, then Carlington Smith got off a shot from close range but it was badly directed.
Towards the end of the half, MBUFC came perilously close to scoring when Damian Reid's cracking shot struck a defender and ricocheted towards the goal, but goalkeeper Philmore Crumbie made a fantastic stop to prevent what looked like a certain goal.
Under pressure
After seeing off two early second-half chances from MBUFC - in the 58th minute when Ottey had a close-range shot blocked and second when Leon Irving ran out of ideas before the goal - Humble Lion took command and had MBUFC under pressure for long periods.
In the 60th minute, Miller got away clean on goal but fired feebly at the goalkeeper. Five minutes later, an even easier chance fell to Sean Coleman who capitalised on a defensive blunder before the MBUFC goal. But instead of shooting, he elected to make a pass which turned out to be wayward.
With MBUFC mostly on the defensive and soaking up pressure, it was all Humble Lion in the final minutes as they kept creating chances and missing them. One particular miss in a goal-mouth melee had coach Hyde throwing up his arms in disgust.
"This is the kind of performance you just cannot come to grips with," said Hyde. "Some of the chances we wasted were easier to score than to miss."
Summary of National Premier League football matches played on Sunday:
Standings after Sunday's eighth-round matches
(Tabulate under Teams, Play, Win, Draw, Lose, Goals For, Goals Against, Goal Difference, Points)
| Teams | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Portmore | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 17 |
| Tivoli | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 16 |
| Sporting | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 15 |
| H Lion | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 12 |
| W'house | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 11 |
| B Town | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 12 | -4 | 11 |
| H View | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 10 |
| Reno | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
| Arnett | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 9 |
| Highgate | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 8 | -1 | 8 |
| MoBay | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 7 |
| Village | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 11 | -7 | 1 |
Reno 1 Highgate United 1 at Frome Sports Club.
GOALS: Reno - Nicholi Findlayson 38th; Highgate United - Horace James 76th.
Boys' Town 2 Village United 1 at Collie Smith Drive.
GOALS: Boys' Town - Dean Thompson 15th, Marvin Stewart 65th; Village - Shavar Campbell 11th.
Tivoli Gardens 1 Sporting Central Academy 1 at Edward Seaga Sports Complex.
GOALS: Tivoli - Navion Boyd 62nd; Sporting Central Lesly St Fleur 25th
Waterhouse 1 Portmore United 2 at Waterhouse Stadium.
GOALS: Waterhouse - Gary McIntosh 90+3; Portmore - Alanzo Adlam 7th, Eric Vernan 31st.
Arnett Gardens 0 Harbour View 0 at Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.
Montego Bay United FC 0 Humble Lion 0 at Montego Bay Sports Complex.
Next fixtures
Wednesday, November 2 - Round 9
Portmore United vs Harbour View at Ferdie Neita Park
Village United vs Waterhouse at Trelawny Stadium
Sporting Central Academy vs Boys' Town at Brancourt
Humble Lion vs Tivoli Gardens at Effortville Community Centre
Highgate United vs Montego Bay United at Lynch Park
Reno FC vs Arnett Gardens at Frome Sports Complex