St. Mary based Axum had their run in the Flow Champions Cup halted yesterday when they were totally outclassed by Premier League giants Arnett Gardens at the Anthony Spauldings Sports Complex.
St. Mary based Axum had their run in the Flow Champions Cup halted yesterday when they were totally outclassed by Premier League giants Arnett Gardens at the Anthony Spauldings Sports Complex.
The game had the feel of a typical cup-tie at the outset as tackles went flying in midfield with both teams fighting for control of the match.
The home team slowly gained control as Jason Moore began to find more and more space for himself in midfield. Moore displayed good control, accurate passing and excellent composure in his role stringing passes all over the field, particularly to Kenniel Hyde who found himself in acres of space on the left flank on a number of occasions.
The first real goal threat came from a diagonal pass from Moore to Hyde. Hyde beat his marker and flashed a cross into the box but the Arnett forwards were late in arriving and the chance went begging.
In the 25th minute, Arnett captain, Kirk Ramsey had the ball in the back of the net but his effort was ruled off side to the relief of the Axum team.
A minute later, Andrew Phang fired a shot just wide from 22 yards and then it was the turn of Moore to fluff his lines when he combined neatly with Ramsey on the edge of the box to create a shooting chance from 14 yards. The powerful strike from Moore crashed against the crossbar and rebounded into play.
Newton Sterling was the next to miss a glaring effort when he was picked out in the box and somehow managed to sky his effort over the bar from 12 yards. He followed that up with a rasping drive from 30 yards that went just over the bar.
It was all one way traffic as Axum found the Arnett midfield impossible to contain yet, somehow, the score line remained 0-0 at half time.
Often in game where teams miss lots of chances they get punished for their profligacy and end up being harshly punished.
Early in the second half, Axum forward, Michael Hinds found himself clean through on goal after the Arnett defense failed to handle a high bouncing ball. The forward however, shot straight at the advancing Damion Hyatt in the Arnett goal and his team would live to rue that miss.
With sixty minutes on the clock, Ramsey scored when he chested home a corner kick to make it 1-0 to Arnett.
A minute after the goal was scored the ineffective Sterling was replaced by Leon Strickland
Vishinul Harris had the chance to double his team’s lead in the 63rd minute when Arnett was awarded a penalty but Akeme Dryden guessed the right was to save the spot kick.
The lively Strickland would double the Arnett lead in the 76th minute when he fired home a beautiful volley into the far corner.
Arnett did manage to miss a number easy chances after that, as the Axum challenge wilted in a game that they never really showed up for.
The final whistle brought an end to the Cinderella run of the St. Mary champions and meant that Arnett Gardens were the first qualifiers for the semifinal stages.
Calvin Lewis, head coach of the Arnett team was happy with the result but concerned with the number of missed chances, “For the club and myself, we want to win the Flow Champions Cup. We have a nice group of players and some spirited youngsters.
“I love to win, I am not in this competition just to participate, I am here to win. We just need to be more ruthless in front of goal. At half time I told them that they needed to exhibit more composure in front of goal. They were rushing the plays too much. Every time we passed the ball we created scoring opportunities.”
Axum assistant manager, Marvin Bahardosingh admitted that his team was outplayed and overmatched, “We didn’t get our passes together but there is no shame in losing to a quality team like Arnett. It was a big achievement for us to reach this far.
“Now we will focus on the Major league and try to win that to get promoted to the Premier League,” he reasoned.
The day’s other game between Portmore United and Harbour View was not played due to a waterlogged field at the Ferdie Neita Park. The game has been rescheduled to today and will be played at Prison Oval.
Photo: Kenniel Hyde of Arnett Gardens gets by Ricardo Davis of Axum
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