Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

Arnett Gardens' Fabian Davis struggles to keep the ball away from August Town's Calbert Coke in their National Premier League (NPL) clash at the Tony Spaulding Complex yesterday. Arnett won 2-0 to keep their hopes of staying in the top flight alive. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer

THEY ARE not safe yet, but Arnett Gardens took a major step in soothing the relegation fears of their fans with a much-needed 2-0 win over August Town at the Tony Spaulding Complex yesterday.

The win for Arnett closed the door firmly on August Town's two-season tenure in the top flight, leaving the survival battle to be fought between four teams on the final day of the season.

Reno also put themselves in an excellent position to remain in the top flight following a 3-2 win over Village United. Meanwhile, St Georges, who are still looking for their first win of the final round, put themselves in a tough spot following a 0-0 draw with Seba.

Relegation zone

The draw places the Portland team in the relegation zone for the first time this season. At the Tony Spaulding Complex, Kwame Richardson may have scored one of the most important goals for the 'Junglists' in recent times when he broke away from the August Town backline to break the deadlock in the 67th minute.

Up until then, Richardson had been the target of the crowd's frustration and was about to be substituted when he found the back of the net. The striker brought even more cheers from his former critics when he set up Kevin Wilson with a low cross in the 80th minute, which saw Wilson seal August Town's fate with a simple tap in. "The players knew the position they were in and they rose to the occasion today. In all fairness, we should have scored more goals," said Arnett coach Jerome Waite.

"Arnett is a team everybody knows, no one would like to see them down to the Super League we put ourselves in this position and we have to get ourselves out," he said.

In need of a win

Needing a point to secure their safety, Arnett, on 43 points, travel to face Seba, who are stuck on 41 points, in their final game on Sunday.

Desperately in need of a win, Georges, also on 41, will host Reno (43) while August Town (35) tackle Village (46) in a meaningless fixture.

At Brancourt, league champions Portmore United showed no signs of slowing down as they came from behind to clip Sporting Central 2-1.

Dominating the first half of play, Sporting Central's Ian Palmer could have put his team in the lead in the 19th minute but headed a Hugan Grey cross wide of goal.

Made amends

However, he made amends in the 31st minute after receiving a through ball, before dismissing Portmore custodian Shawn Sawyers to knock the ball into an empty goal. The Sporting Central celebration was short lived as Portmore United replied two minutes later through a Steve Morrissey header.

Portmore United then took the lead in the 75th minute thanks to a penalty from a ball handled in the area. Captain Anthony Modeste converted from the spot.

At Drewsland, striker Leon Strickland opened his Premier League account for fifth-place Waterhouse with a hat-trick, but saw the team go down 4-3 to Tivoli Gardens.

YESTERDAY'S RESULTS