WESTERN BUREAU:

Meadhaven United Football Club defeated Reno FC 1-0 through a 65th-minute penalty in their Digicel Premier League matchup at Frome Sports Ground in Westmoreland yesterday.

Penalty kick awarded

Keammar Daley slotted home for Meadhaven after his team was awarded a penalty kick, when striker Leighton Neita was brought down in the 18-yard box by Reno's captain Patrick Graham, who was ejected from the game several minutes later.

"It is a good feeling to get three points away from home and I think that with the boys having travelled so far, which they are not accustomed to, they did themselves well," Meadhaven's coach Alrick Clarke told The Gleaner.

He added: "The long ride did not allow us to play as we wanted. We expected that Reno would put up a fight, but the boys did well."

Clarke said his team was now looking towards ensuring they maintained their place in the league next season.

"Our next game will be against Tivoli. We will have to fight for dear life in the games coming up; there is no holding back now. But we are not really scoring goals, so that is an area we have to improve upon. Once we improve on our goalscoring, we will most definitely be back in the Premier League next season," he said.

Reno's technical director, Wendell Downswell, told The Gleaner that while he was dissatisfied with the results, his team would now channel its efforts into defeating Sporting Central in their next match.

"I am very disappointed, extremely disappointed," Downswell said. "The fact that we were down to 10 players, I think that was the turning point. I give credit, though, to Meadhaven's goalkeeper, who made two brilliant saves in the latter part of the game. We just have to wheel and come again.

"The one goal scored was a penalty, no fault of ours. I couldn't see them (Meadhaven) scoring any goals other than the penalty because defensively, we were nullifying them," he said.

Standings