Portmore United's goalscorer, Roen Nelson (foreground), gets to the ball before Meadhaven's goalie, Andrew Gibson, during their Digicel Premier League match at Ferdie Neita Park, in Portmore, St Catherine, on Sunday. Portmore United won 3-0. - Anthony Minott/Freelance Photographer

Portmore United's coach, Linval Dixon, was satisfied with the performance of his team after their 3-0 whipping of lowly placed Meadhaven United, in a Digicel Premier League match at the Ferdie Neita Park in Braeton, Portmore, St Catherine, on Sunday.

"Definitely, we are satisfied. We scored three goals, that's an excellent victory," Dixon said.

However, there is still room for improvement as Dixon is urging his players for a better start to games.

"I'm disappointed in the way we played in the first half. "We were sloppy, we weren't marking, tracking and running back. But in the second half, we put it together and got it right," he admitted.

Joint leadership

The win, Portmore's seventh in a row, propelled the Sunshine City-based outfit to joint leadership of the league with 34 points, along with long-time leaders Harbour View, who were held goalless by Reno. However, the Stars of the East lead with a superior goal difference. Meadhaven remain on 12 points, just one point off cellar team Sporting Central Academy.

Meadhaven enjoyed the better of play early in the game but faulty shooting prevented them from scoring.

Keammar Daley, Weston Forrest, Rohan Williams and Leighton Neita all put pressure on the Portmore defence and Portmore's goalie Shawn Sawyers kept the game goalless when he pulled off a diving save to deny Neita a goal midway the half.

It was not until the 33rd minute that Portmore got their first real chance of the match. Midfielder Kevin Deerr got an absolute sitter in front of goal and kicked wide of the left post.

Twelve minutes later, Deerr made amends for his earlier indiscretion when he met a Bryan Bayliss cross from the left side and headed the ball from the path of Meadhaven United's goalie, Andrew Gibson, for an alert Roen Nelson to slot home at the back post, as Meadhaven's defenders were guilty of not covering their weak side.

It was Nelson's sixth goal in four matches since his return from Trinidad and Tobago.

Rocked within minutes

Meadhaven were rocked within three minutes of the restart as Steven Morrissey finished off a Bayliss pass across the face of goal, the latter hitting one-time past a diving Gibson, beaten at his near post by the well-placed grounder.

Ricardo Cousins completed the scoring in the 57th minute, blasting a powerful shot past Gibson from 22 yards. The goal was as a result of a sweet build-up between Bayliss, Nelson and Cousins.

The coach of Meadhaven United, Lijyasu Simms, was disappointed.

"Basically, what happened to us tonight is that we gave up a soft goal at the end of the first half and it affected the players. We started the secnd half with our heads down and as a result we found ourselves 3-0 down," Simms said.

He added that they will not lie down and die and will go back to the drawing board to prepare for their next match.