Keys unlocks Arnett in Collie Smith Derby

Photo: Adrian King prepares to whip in a cross for Boys Town ahead of the challenge from Jahmeel Thompson of Arnett Gardens. King played a key role in the lone goal scored by Peter Keys, to earn Boys Town a narrow 1-0 win the the Red Stripe Premier League on Sunday.

A 35^th minute strike from Peter Keys was enough to settle the Collie Smith Drive Derby on Sunday as Boys Town exacted revenge on Arnett Gardens for the 4-0 thrashing they received in the first round of the Red Stripe Premier League, earlier this season.

In a game of small margins, played at the Barbican Field instead of the usual Collie Smith Drive, the lively Adrian King who was voted Man of the Match by his coach Andrew Price, was a constant threat to the Arnett Gardens team.

 A willing runner, King brought out the best in Damian Hyatt in goal for Arnett Gardens, firing a shot from the top of the box to which Hyatt got a strong hand to keep the scores level in the 32^nd minute.

Three minutes later, King proved to be the inspiration behind the Boys Town win, when he provided a beautiful reverse pass into the path of right back Xavian Virgo who took the ball in his stride, in mid air, before firing a pass into the near post. The alert Keys then pounced to steer the ball home ahead of Hyatt, to make it 1-0.

A brilliant last ditch tackle from an alert Carlos Wright, prevented Newton Sterling from grabbing an equalizer on the stroke of half time.

The second half produced few goal scoring chances for either team as Boys Town played behind the ball forcing their opponents to come at them. In previous games this season, Price had complained about the defensive discipline of his team, but on Sunday there were no such problems.

Long balls into the box for Sterling were easily negated by the Boys Town defenders and when substitute Andrew Phang threatened to grab a share of the spoils for his team in the 90^th minute, a combination of Mikhail Harrison and Trevin Garnett thwarted the danger. The keeper went low to his right to parry, before Garnett hacked the ball clear to avert the danger.

“Today we really concentrated for the entire 90 minutes,” said a pleased Andrew Price. “We kept a very good defensive shape and whenever we got the opportunities we tried to put them away. We put away one and we played in an intense fashion. We didn’t allow Arnett Gardens to play today.”

“Congrats to the Boys Town team, I think they wanted it a little bit more than Arnett, despite the number of chances we created in the first half. If we put away those chances it would be a different ball game,” said Jerome Waite. “We played in spurts but Boys Town defended stoutly. It was a tough game but we just have to move on and look to the next game against Humble Lion.”

It was a good win for Boys Town who now sit in 8^th place on 18 points, the same as 6^th and 7^th place, Tivoli Gardens and Harbour View respectively, both of whom suffered 1-0 losses on Sunday.

Tivoli Gardens succumbed to a 20^th minute strike from Gregory Lewis, in their 1-0 loss at Humble Lion while Harbour View fell prey to Denmark Gillings goal in the 48^th minute away to Reno.

Leaders Portmore United were held 0-0 by second from bottom Waterhouse, while in the day’s other game a brave UWI team prevailed 3-2 over the struggling Rivoli United.

First timers, the UWI took the lead in only the 5^th minute through Anthony Greenland but Corey Burke drew Rivoli level in the 13^th minute. Patrick Brown then put the home team ahead for the second time in the 23^rd minute, only to see Burke step up to the plate and level the game for a second time, this time from the penalty spot in the 31^st minute.

The teams went in 2-2 at the break, but Rivoli had no answer to the second goal of the contest from Greenland, whose strike on 56 minutes was enough to secure three valuable points for the Marcel Gayle coached team, who now have 16 points and sit in 9^th place.

Former Champions Montego Bay United who sits second, has the chance of returning to the summit when they travel to take on Cavalier SC at the Stadium East Field in the Monday night game. A win for the visitors will see them back to the top on goal difference, while a win for home team Cavalier, will see them leapfrog UWI into 9^th place on goal difference.