Arnett Gardens scores come from behind win to lift fifth premier league title

Photo: Marvin Morgan being interviewed after his man of the match performance helped Arnett Gardens score a come from behind 2-1 win over Portmore United in the Red Stripe Premier League on Monday.

The fan fare and spectacle in Cardiff, England on Saturday, June 3, after Real Madrid claimed their 12th hold on the coveted UEFA Champions League trophy was no more than what unfolded at the National Stadium as the Red Stripe Premier League season concluded on Monday night.

Arnett Gardens FC aka the ‘Junglists’ came from behind to beat Portmore United in a thrilling and edgy finals. The former St.Georges College standout Marvin ‘Missa Man’ Morgan scored arguably the goal of the tournament in the 65th minute to put Arnett Gardens ahead in the game for the first time. Ranike Anderson had earlier equalized for the Junglist, with a sublime finish in the 55th minute. Anderson’s goal cancelled out Maalique Foster’s opener in the 2nd minute of play which was a beautifully taken near-post strike after flicking the ball over the head of his opponent.

A picture perfect evening for the beautiful game of football saw a sea of Arnett Gardens supporters clad in red, strolling noisily in the National Stadium in anticipation of what the finals had to offer. On the other side of the spectrum, dots of white in support of Portmore United was almost invisible to the naked eye.

Despite the vast disparity in numbers of supporters, Portmore United was quicker out of the blocks, matching that blistering start of the sub- ten King, Asafa Powell. They drew first blood and went ahead after some snappy play on the right side by national invitees Ricardo Morris and team captain Micheal Binns – two predominant left footed players. A perfectly weighted pass from Binns picked an unmarked Maalique Foster whose first touch wasn’t what he wanted but he managed to flick the ball over his opponents head then strike on goal to the detriment of the goal keeper Damian Hyatt who slipped on the line. FIFA assistant Nicholas Anderson made a brilliant call as defender Oniel Thompson desperately tried to save the ball on the line.

Although Portmore United got an early goal, Arnett Gardens seemed the first of the two to settle down.They stroked the ball nicely around the lush green park, much to the delight of their supporters. Portmore United was not deterred by the menial possession they had but were hell bent on making their touches count. They should have doubled their lead in the 17th minute after Marvin Morgan gave away a careless free kick just outside the center circle. Kareem Manning lofted the ball from about 40 yards into the box which forced a corner out of the resolute Arnett Gardens defense. The resulting corner kick was swung in by Binns where his effort found Jermie Lynch at the front post. The striker’s cheeky little flick however wasn’t enough to bamboozle the goalkeeper.

The attacking trio of Micheal Binns, Ricardo Morris and Maalique Foster can drive fear in any defender. Their movements on and off the ball was breathtaking and if it wasn’t for Thompson, Arnett Gardens would have been done and dusted by half time.

In the 22nd minute, Thompson rolled back the years to break up a threatening attack with a well timed last ditched tackle. His football intelligence can be matched to that of Albert Einstein; he reads the came so well.

Moments before the half hour mark, Arnett Gardens was handed a ticket to ‘Boardwalkalk’ but Portmore United immediately used their ‘get out of jail free’ card. Renae Lloyd slipped through a pass for Marvin Morgan whose twinkle toes outfoxed Portmore’s Roberto Johnson, who then carelessly tripped him inside the box. FIFA referee Damian Parchment immediately pointed to the spot and the in form Fabian ‘Parko Blacks’ Reid who has scored in his last five games was handed the spot kick duty. His weak effort was parried by a strong hand from goalkeeper Shaven-Sean Paul. Kareem Manning eventually booted the ball to safety.

A quick throw-in found Lloyd whose crisp long pass found Ranike Anderson at the back post. His firm header back to the six yard area landed at the feet of Lennox Russell who should still be wondering how he missed from four yards with the gapping goal at his mercy.

On minute 31, Foster brought the Portmore United crowd to life again with a mesmerizing run from inside his own half to release Morris who with some degree of skill managed to pull off a shot. This was however charged down by the ever present Thompson who took a fierce blow to the head for his troubles. The five time champions Portmore United managed to take control of their game and got ahead of themselves with a little show boating towards the end of the first half. Numerous trickeries, step overs and look away passes but little did they know that these do not win games.

Portmore United picked up right where they left off on the resumption. In the 48th minute Morris flicked the ball over the head of his opponent but was charged down before he could pull the trigger on the top off the box.

Ten minutes after the restart, Ranike Anderson collected a flick pass from Fabian Reid on his chest and turned and pulled off an amazing strike to beat the goal keeper. With the scores now level, both teams decided to shuffle things up with some fresh legs.

Portmore United’s first hold on the prestigious title came when Marvin Morgan was just 1 year old and their last title came when he was a teenager leaving school after a dominant schoolboy season. He was the man to block their passage to a sixth hold on the trophy.

In the 65th minute, a loose ball rolled out kindly for Morgan who drove through the ball, giving all he had. The ball rocketed past the hapless goalkeeper and kissed the net. The sea of red top supporters went wild. The security forces had to be summoned to restrain the jubilant supporters. After the smoke cleared Portmore United was at it again with a never say die attitude.

In the 77th minute Foster should have had his second of the night and add some parity to the scores. Substitute Javon East got into the game immediately as he entered and whipped a teasing cross into the box, which found an unmarked Foster who skied his effort from six yards.

Arnett Gardens sensibly at this time resorted to all players behind the ball. They soaked up the pressure and launched two counter attacks in the 84th and 89th minutes but shots from Renae Lloyd and Kemal Malcolm went narrowly wide. Thompson and his troops stood firm and fought gallantly to fend off a few attacks late in time added on.

As the referee raised his hands to the sky and blew his whistle for the final time to close this chapter of RSPL, the decibel levels in the stadium rose beyond what is comfortable to the human ear. Players and supporters will have a lot to discuss. Arnett Gardens has now joined an elite group of teams that have won the title 5 times, namely Santos, Portmore United and Tivoli Gardens.

Coach Jerome Waite said “Congratulations to Portmore, they fought hard and put in a gutsy performance. I have won numerous titles but this is the best one I have ever won locally. In previous teams I have quality players, this is a team persons literally ‘write off’. The willingness of the players and their attitude changed in the season which showed character. I love this victory.”

Coach Linval Dixon said “Playing so many games in a few days finally took a toll on the players. But they played well enough to get to the finals, they just didn’t have enough to get them over the line.we just have to get back a work the plan for next season.”

Captain: “Oniel ‘Bigga’ Thompson said “We played to our strengths and that is to track in midfield and keep possession of the football. The fans were getting impatient after being down 1-0 for a very long time, but we believed in ourselves and we wanted to do it for them.”

Jerome Waite has now won the title four times as coach of Arnett Gardens