Stop trying to hurt players – Davis

Arnett Gardens ended with nine men and still emerged 3-1 winners over Montego Bay United last Saturday but head coach Paul 'Tegat' Davis is not happy.

Davis is now urging his players to be more disciplined for his sake and for their own professional futures.

A double from Marlon Allen and substitute Ezran Simpson helped the 'Junglists' to back-to-back wins and maintain their five-game unbeaten run in the Jamaica Premier League. However, their lack of discipline was a concern for Davis as Kemoy Slowley was ejected for a second bookable offence just before half time and Gerald Neil was given a straight red for a dangerous challenge in the 50th minute. It meant that Arnett played with two men short for more than 40 minutes, a scenario that Davis says he would not want to be repeated if the players have aspirations to play overseas

"These guys have to know that if they want to play in Europe, you have to stop (hurting players). The Jamaican player has to start learning that. Stop trying to hurt players. Stay on your feet and play football. Make the game look pretty and nice. I'm disappointed with the way we got the red cards," Davis said.

While praising the fortitude of the team for ensuring that they managed the game throughout, Davis said that he expected better composure from his team to not fall prey to those situations. However, despite the two-man disadvantage, Davis said that Montego Bay United rarely threatened them

"We didn't panic because they were playing across, up, across, up and we were playing how we wanted to play them. They kept doing that for 45 minutes and it wasn't successful for them. I think they should have done some dribbling through the middle but I'm happy that they (didn't do that)," Davis said.

Arnett are now in fourth place with 11 points, five adrift of leaders Mount Pleasant, and while pleased that they are inching close to the identity that he desires, Davis said that they remain focused on their title challenge and were not getting ahead of themselves despite their improved run of form.