Dunbeholden to address late goals

Dunbeholden head coach Michael Cohen says he is working to improve his team's fitness and concentration for the second round of the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL), which begins on Sunday with a game against Humble Lion at the Royal Lakes Complex.

Cohen said in the latter stages of the first round, his team surrendered some very late goals which cost them valuable points. In their final game of the round against St Catherine rivals, Portmore, they gave up a 93rd-minute goal to lose 3-2, in their previous game against UWI FC, they conceded an 88th-minute goal to lose 1-0. Against Reno they gave up a goal midway the second-half to lose 2-1, and against Harbour View they let in a goal in the 92nd minute to lose 1-0, and Cohen believes fitness and concentration are the root of their problem.

"For the past four games we have been giving away some late goals and everytime it has cost us. So we are basically paying to learn right now, and concentration is definitely the main issue," he said.

BETTER FITNESS

The coach believes the team has represented itself well in the league so far, even if they have not received due reward, with eight defeats, two wins and seven points from 11 matches. But the St Catherine club lost their first five games by close 1-0 margins and only Arnett Gardens have been able to beat them by more than one goal, with a 3-1 over Cohen's side.

This gives him hope and he believes better fitness will lead to better concentration, and that in turn will help turn results around in the second round.

"First of all, we are going to work on our fitness because if you are not properly fit, you cannot concentrate for the duration of the game, and that is part of our problem. It's not that we are not playing well, but we are not concentrating to the end. Hopefully, we can put in the work, and hopefully, we can get it right and turn it around in the next round," he said.

In the early stage of the first round, Dunbeholden shared the Spanish Town Prison Oval with Portmore United, but in the latter stages, the club has hosted its games at the Royal Lakes Complex. Cohen says it has a homely feel to it, and they are hoping they can use that to their advantage in their efforts to garner more points this round.

"Our pitch that we play on (at Dunbeholden) is this (Royal Lakes field) size, so sometimes when we play on other pitches, it stretch us out, but right here suits our style of play. It is also much easier for us because most of our players are from the community, so it's easy for them to walk out and come to the games," he said.