Glenmuir come from behind to clip seven-goal thriller

GLENMUIR HIGH School’s Orane Watson turned hero yesterday with a hat-trick on his home ground to help his side come from two goals down to earn a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Frome Technical in the first round of ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup quarterfinal games.

In the early game of a double-header at Glenmuir, Central High School, and Garvey Maceo shared the points with the former also coming from two goals down.

In the feature game, the home fans were stunned early as Frome took the lead in the 10th minute via a free kick from Wayne Mullings.

However, Glenmuir replied eight minutes later when Conroy Nicely scored a header from a corner in the 18th minute.

But Frome would shock the home team again, re-taking the lead in the 22nd minute from another scorching free kick, this time from Stevaughn Spence.

Frome with excellent plays from Spencer, Obryan Reid, and Kishar Clayton, controlled the game from then on, putting the Glenmuir defenders under constant pressure.

With the state of play, it was no surprise when Frome extended their lead in the 43rd through Clinton Bernard.

At the resumption, a highly motivated Glenmuir, cheered on by their large contingent of fans, came out positively and pulled one back in the 47th minute, Watson scoring his first of three from six yards.

With 40 minutes to go, a heavy downpour left both teams struggling with heavy underfoot conditions, however, Glenmuir managed the situation better with player-of-the-match, Watson, adding to his tally in the 64th and 79th. Watson now has 27 goals this season, the last of which relegated Frome to their first defeat of the season.

Winning coach, Andrew Peart was a relieved man at the end of the game.

TEAM PRAISED

“We started slowly but I must give credit to Frome. They are a very aggressive team and played well on the right side of the field, but we were prepared for this. We knew they were good with set pieces and we did not handle those properly, which resulted in the goals they scored,” said Peart, commenting on the first time his team has conceded since the start of the second round.

Peart also praised his team for the character they showed.

“I must applaud my team for the character they showed as after being two goals down they fought gallantly and came out with the win.”

Cleighton Stephens, Frome coach, believes a lack of confidence damned his team.

“I think the guys showed a lack of confidence today. We gave Glenmuir the game. We allowed them to have free access close to the goal. This is a hard one to take as it is their first loss of the season, but I will have to get back in their heads and let them know that the season is not ended yet and we are positive that the results will be better in our remaining matches,” said Stephens.

In the opening match, Garvey Maceo scored in the first minute of play through Omarion Brian and extended their lead seven minutes later through Everald Swaby.

Central fought back gallantly grabbing goals through Antwone Wright in the 36th minute and Ean Noel in the 60th.

With a point each they joined Munro and Ocho Rios in Group 2.