The coach of Sporting Central Academy, Nigel Stewart, said that his team is highly motivated after defeating Portmore United 1-0 in their Digicel Premier League match at Ferdie Neita Park on Sunday night.

"Portmore's a team we haven't beaten before and to beat them at home is a very good win for us," said Stewart. "It's also very good for the team, it's been a while, we haven't played well in succession and this is a morale booster. It's going to motivate us as we have August Town, the next match, at home.

He added: "We hope to have a better performance against August Town (at home) than we did against Arnett (Gardens)."

In their previous matches, Sporting were coming off a 0-0 draw against third-place St Georges, while Portmore had lost 0-1 to leaders Harbour View.

The win saw former eighth-place team Sporting (21) leapfrog Arnett Gardens (19) and Portmore United (21) into sixth position on goal difference. Both teams are well off the pace of top clubs Harbour View (36) and Tivoli Gardens (35).

Hard football played

The all-important goal was scored by Jevaughn Watson - a penalty kick in the 42nd minute.

Sporting Central played hard football and Portmore didn't match the intensity of the Clarendon team. Portmore were also rocked five minutes into the second half as their starting goalie, Duwayne Kerr, was carted off the field with an injury and veteran goalie Shawn Sawyers took his place.

While it was all smiles for Sporting Central, the Portmore United bench had long faces following their seventh defeat of the season and three games without a goal.

Acting coach Jeffrey Hewitt said that it was "a really tough defeat".

"We came out expecting to win, we played well tactically but unfortunately we didn't score any goals. We just have to go back to the training ground and work really hard, as hard work is the key to success. We definitely need to work much harder."

Linval Dixon, the head coach of Portmore, was not on the team's bench.

When quizzed about Dixon's absence, a source from administration said that Dixon was given leave to celebrate is wedding anniversary.