Peart demands more UWI consistency
AFTER SEEING his team lose to ninth-placed Harbour View FC in mid-week then beat defending champions and Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) leaders Portmore United away at the Spanish Town Prison Oval yesterday, UWI FC coach Andrew Peart is demanding more consistency from his team.
Andre Bernal fired the visitors into the lead after 19 minutes, but Javon East equalised for the hosts six minutes into the second half. However, Akeem Thenstead ensured that UWI left the Oval with maximum points, with a well-taken goal on 55 minutes.
However, Peart’s team has two wins and two losses in its last four games and four wins, three defeats, and a draw in its last eight matches. After yesterday’s surprise scalp, the young tactician says the focus now is to try and get results from all their remaining games.
BENEFICIAL TO CONFIDENCE
“The result is just three points, and that’s good,” he said. “In terms of the opponents, it will be beneficial to our confidence, coming to the home of the leaders and getting a win as well as putting on a good performance as it wasn’t a scrap. We managed to play football. But we are just trying to achieve some consistency in terms of the moments in the game when we should be getting good performances and consistency across the games, where we pick up results in every game we play,”he said.
Portmore could find no answer for the slippery Patrick Brown. The attacker left his marker for dead before delivering a pinpoint cross for Bernal to head home the opener. But Portmore made some changes at half time, and the two substitutes, Rondee Smith and Cleon Pryce, combination led to East’s equalising goal.
But just when Portmore looked to seize the ascendancy, Brown slammed through the Portmore defence before laying off the ball for Thenstead, who lifted over the advancing Shaven Paul for the winner.
Despite going behind, Portmore kept at their opponents, and Smith wasted two glorious chances for an equaliser, blasting over the bar from inside the area on both occasions.
Although the top six is UWI’s objective, and consistency is the focus, Peart says they intend to take it a game at a time. “For us, we are just focused on the next game. That’s our mantra going forward. Not looking at what the next five games can bring or what has happened before. It’s just the next game. Our next game is against Harbour View, and that is a team on the up, so we just have to bring a good performance again,” he added.
Portmore coach Shavar Thomas said poor decision making and individual mistakes let them down. “I’m very disappointed with our performance. It’s not like UWI came and dominated. It was a result of our bad play, poor decision making, and individual moments,” he said.
Portmore remain two points clear at the top of the table with 39 points, while UWI climbed into the top six on 30 points, the same as fifth-placed Mount Pleasant. Meanwhile, Cavalier sit second, Waterhouse are third with 34, and Arnett are fourth on 31.