By Anmar Goodridge-Boyce
Brittons Hill squandered a chance to cut Weymouth Wales’ lead at the top of the BFA Premier League table following a 1-1 draw against St Andrew Lions tonight at the Wildey Turf.
The Lions, who were in search of a first victory of the 2023 season, started the brighter side and were rewarded in the 30th minute when Jadon Holligan gave them a well-deserved lead.
St Andrew Lions held their advantage at the half-time break but two minutes after the restart, Mickel Jeffers produced a world-class strike to beat custodian Mario Albert and pull Brittons Hill level and ensure the points were shared.
Earlier, in an eventful first half which saw the ball rattled against the upright on five occasions, Lions captain Darico King came the closest to finding the opener as he unleashed a thunderous right-footed shit which left the crossbar shaking. Brittons Hill’s Kendolph Lewis also smashed the woodwork with a delightful header.
Before King’s spectacular effort, a clever ball over the top fell gently for Brittons Hill’s Rommell Bynoe who surged into the box and was fouled by full-back Emerald George, forcing referee Norman Greaves to point to the spot and award a penalty.
The reliable Ray Francis then stepped up and was denied by a brilliant diving save by sweeper keeper Albert in the seventh minute.
The missed penalty eventually came back to haunt Francis as a fired-up Lions unit took the lead with an excellent team goal. The boys from St Andrew, playing a 4-5-1 formation, adopted a long-ball style which paid dividends when Davyuan Clarke motored into Brittons Hill’s box and forced an initial save from custodian Shaquille Frank, who could only parry the ball straight to Holligan for a tap-in from close range.
Neither team could find a winner late on as Brittons Hill remain second in the league on 20 points above Empire Club and St Andrew Lions stay second from bottom with zero wins from nine matches.
In a post-match interview Lions coach Christopher King said, “We showed a lot of fight and passion in this game and it is a plus considering that we haven’t won a game for the season. We need to go back to the drawing board and work on teamwork now a bit more.
“We had an individual mistake that caused the goal and the keeper raised his hand for it. The game wasn’t as bad, I am disappointed with the point because we need three points but we have to put our heads down and go forward on Sunday.”
Meanwhile, Brittons Hill manager Fabian Wharton also expressed disappointment that his team didn’t gain a victory.
“Our expectations were to come away with three points. We hit the crossbar and missed a penalty, it was just one of those nights and these things happen in football. It is one of those days in the office that I would like to forget. It is a massive opportunity missed, if we had won we would be three points off of Wales going into the second round,” he said.
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