Daraine Luton, Freelance Writer
CONSTANT Spring's new coach Christopher Bender has described the outcome of his team's opening Wray and Nephew National Premier League game against Rivoli as "very disappointing".
Bender made the comment after Constant Spring, which finished eighth last season, played out a 1-1 draw with Rivoli at the Constant Spring field to kick-off their campaign with a point.
"We dominated the game, we got more chances and should have won it, especially being that we are playing at home. I am very disappointed about the result but there were some encouraging signs in the way we played.
"A point is not something we were looking for but we just have to use it as our foundation and build on it going forward," Bender said.
15TH-MINUTE SCORE
A Garfield Reid 15th minute free-kick, which deflected off the body of defender Daemion Benjamin into the goal, gave Rivoli a 1-0 lead despite the home team demonstrating early intentions to keep the visitors as hostage.
In fact, from as early as the sixth minute, Constant Spring had Rivoli on the defensive and were it not for that Reid goal, the Harold Thomas-coached team might have found themselves up against the wall.
Striker Alberto Fray missed from point blank range minutes after the start, toe-poking the ball high after Denzil Mitchell had forced Rivoli's goalkeeper Moshell Nelson to deflect a ball into his path.
SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE
Constant Spring later created several other shooting opportunities but they had to wait until the 49th minute before giving their spectators something to celebrate. Then, Mitchell shot past Nelson from 10 yards after the goalie had dived and diverted a Jermaine Richards shot unto his foot. The striker gleefully accepted and hit into the roof of the net.
'Spring' began to bubble immediately after that goal. They went for the kill but the goal never came. The nearest they got was in the 62nd minute when Fray found the woodwork after Rivoli's defence failed to react effectively to a flurry of shots aimed at the goal.
The closest Rivoli came to threatening Constant Spring goal after that 22-yard drive from Reid came in the 79th minute. And it came from Reid's boots again - a thumping 25-yard kick which Robinson negotiated with ultimate ease. Aside from having to pick the ball out of the net after been wrong-footed by the free kick and spotting the ball after some wayward efforts, that was the only occasion that the Constant Spring goalie was called upon to handle the ball.
Thomas said: "I concur they played the better game but we have a point to show."
Asked if he thought his side was lucky to leave with a point, Thomas responded: "I don't believe in luck. We played for everything we got. We took the lead, we could have consolidated, they drew level and so we are satisfied with the point."
GOALSHEET
CONSTANT SPRING 1
Denzil Mitchell 49th
RIVOLI 1
Garfield Reid 15th
