The new look Montserrat Antilles Plastic Newtown F.C. picked up two points from two matches after drawing their second straight match in the National Bank Premier League on Sunday. They drew 1-1 with Hobson Enterprises Garden Hotspurs; the same score line in their previous match against Island Auto Supplies Conaree F.C. last week. Newtown got on the score sheet first with a solid Geovanie Lake strike in the 13th minute but before the half could end, Spurs got the equalizer from Kai Cabey in the 27th minute. The game was an open affair especially in the second half with both teams creating opportunities but failing to put them away. Newtown got the better of the chances and should have at least been 3-1 up in the middle stages of the second half, but failed to their shots on target. The team from East Basseterre ended up with 10 men before the matched ended as Kimron Browne picked up his second yellow card in the 87th minute.
Newtown has been a beneficiary of top players from some of their rivals namely Cayon and Conaree. With a new coach in Earl Jones, it may take some time for team to gel and adopt to a new philosophy. At least, that’s the view of Coach Jones in his post-match comments. “We always could do better. It’s a fresh team, fresh coach. We just have to go back to the drawing board,” Jones said. “Individually players might be up to a level but team wise I think we can gel a little better and then you will start see the results we deserve,”
Coach Austin ‘Dico’ Huggins of Spurs said he was not satisfied with just a point and believes the team could have picked up a win instead. “We had the opportunity to get three points but nevertheless the guys work very hard. We did a lot of work on the training ground after our first game we saw that we had to make some adjustments especially on the defense and I was very happy to see how we held out tonight,” Coach Huggins said.
In other matches, S.L. HORSFORD ST.PAULS 2 – 1 MANTAB
SCORING FOR ST.PAULS
Malik Clarke 21st min
Keithroy Freeman 33rd min
SCORING FOR MANTAB
Jermaine Carey 67th min
SOL ISLAND AUTO CONAREE 2 – 0 FAST CASH SADDLERS
SCORING FOR CONAREE
Wazim Howe 15th min
Kadeen Lewis 35th min
Coach Alexis Morris of Conaree was pleased with his team’s performance, as they made sure that last season’s result, when to Saddlers defeated them in round 1, would not repeat itself. “First half and in the first 20 minutes of the second half we really control the flow of the game. We basically came out this evening to prove a point that a team like Saddlers should not be taking points off Conaree,” Coach Morris said.
Coach Alexis Richards of Saddlers despite the loss said he was pleased with his players’ performance in the second half. “Today, the finishing let us down. On the other end we didn’t defend well as a team. We gave up two soft goals but all in all I am pleased with the team’s performance in the second half,” Coach Richards said. The National Bank Premier League continues this weekend.