Strickland

Striker Leon Strickland had the last laugh as his last gasp header was enough to secure a 1-0 victory and all three points for 10-man Arnett Gardens in a hard-fought victory over the troubled Humble Lions in their Digicel Premier League encounter at Effortville yesterday.

Strickland, who wasted a much easier opportunity in the dying moments of the first half, shooting straight at goalkeeper Sheldon Brown after being played through by Garfield Gillespie, rose unmarked inside the six-yard box to convert a Lennox Creary corner, as referee Courtney Campbell got ready to bring the game to an end.

The win consolidates the Junglists' mid-table credentials after a poor start to the campaign and in the process relegated the misfiring Humble Lions outfit to their fifth loss so far in their maiden top-flight experience.

Proud coach

Arnett Garden's player/coach Fabian Davis was proud of his players' response to going a man down, and credited their determination and ability to stick to instructions.

Said Davis, "Both teams were really pushing it but hats off to my players for coming out with the three points, especially after playing with ten men,"

"We just need to keep on putting in our chances and we will be good, we are working well in the defence and the concentration level around the back has improved big time," Davis continued.

The Lions started the game rather tamely and surrendered the early domination to the visitors, who despite controlling much of the possession, could not find an opening in a poor starting 15 minutes.

It wasn't until the 40th minute that Arnett Garden's Leon Strickland squandered what should have been the game's opening goal.

Red card

Things got worse for the Arnett Gardens team five minutes into the second half when Nicora Plummer was shown a red card for a clumsy challenge. however, despite the deficit, it was the visitors who were showing the initiative as the half wore on.

Humble Lions finally found their stride with 10 minutes to go and launched a series of attacks on their opponents goal but failed to take the advantage after some wasteful finishing.

Humble Lions coach Christopher Bender blamed inexperience on the part of his players for the last-minute slip-up.

Said Bender, "That's football, you create chances and somehow your opponents manage to score on you. We were unlucky but I can't fault the team on effort, it's a learning curve in terms of experience for the players."