Rasbert Turner, Freelance WriterSPANISH TOWN:
A 68TH minute strike by Omar Gordon gave Rivoli United a 1-0 victory over Reno in their Wray and Nephew National Premier League encounter at Prison Oval on Sunday afternoon.
The match, which was played before a fair-sized crowd of biased Rivoli supporters, saw the first half ending in a nil-all stalemate with both teams playing kick-and-run football.
SUPERIOR SKILL
In the second half, the Rivoli team came out with a greater sense of purpose. They strung passes through Derrick and Barrington Planter and national player Garfield Reid, who showed superior skill and ball control, oftentimes running rings around the Reno defence.
They were kept at bay until the 68th minute when Planter distributed a ball to Gordon, who rose high above the defenders and headed past national goalkeeper Aaron Lawrence.
Reno tried to rally but stout defending by Rivoli prevented any change in the score, even though in the 89th minute Reno's Nicoli Findlayson fired a shot that hit the post and bounced out of play.
Reno's coach Carl Palmer spoke highly of his players.
"Even though we lost this afternoon I am really proud. It was a young group of guys and the way they played, things can only get better for us."
Harold Thomas of Rivoli said: "It was a tough game and we are still trying to make some transition to stabilize the game and as such we will continue to work hard to improve our standards and fitness. We are glad for the win and hope that things will get better."
The win pushed Rivoli to 22 points in the overall standings and 10 in the second round.
Rivoli's Under-21 team won the curtain-raiser 3-2.
