Maxwell

AFTER rallying to secure a hard-fought 1-1 tie with Sporting Central Academy in their Digicel Premier League match on a muddy surface at Lynch Park on Sunday, St Georges Sports Club coach, Geoffrey Maxwell, was a disappointed man.

Maxwell blamed poor finishing on the part of his team.

"The wet surface was never a problem for my team as this is Portland," said Maxwell.

"We were too relaxed in the first half and it was also obvious that we underestimated our opponents."

Penalty

Daniel Shaw's 55th-minute free kick levelled the score after Alanzo Adlam had given the Clarendon team the lead via a penalty in the 18th minute.

Both teams squandered easy chances in the game which saw two players from St Georges and one from Sporting Central being yellow-carded.

Sporting went one up in the first half after Ricardo Taylor and Adlam were involved in a tussle for the ball and the former committed an offence inside the 18-yard box.

Referee Raymond Bogle immediately pointed to the spot and Adlam fired the penalty to the left of Anthoneil Williams, the Georges goalie.

The teams wasted opportunities leading up to the end of the first half, which was played in windy conditions at the seaside venue.

Defensive work

The second half started with Sporting attacking through LeVaughn Williams, Camaal Reid, Adlam and Karl Wiggan, but good defensive work by Taylor, Barrington James and Hillelide Dean robbed them of a second goal.

St Georges, however, drew level after Shaw unleashed a powerful right-footed kick.

Christopher Dawes, Sporting's coach, expressed satisfaction with the share of points that lifted his team to 27 points, 11 behind St Georges, which maintain fifth place while inching up to 38.

"This is a good result for us," Dawes said. "Coming here and securing a point is no easy task. The guys worked hard and we can only grow from strength to strength."