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Thomas scores as red-hot Dunbeholden win again
February 20, 2025
Head coach Harold Thomas says Dean Andre Thomas' self-belief has been restored, after the striker netted his fifth goal of the season to lead Dunbeholden to a 1-0 win over Molynes United in the lone Jamaica Premier League (JPL) football game yesterday, at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.
Apart from his first two seasons, 2018-2019 and 2019-20, when he scored eight and 12 goals, respectively, Thomas had not reached this total.
"I have given him the confidence and the team believes in him and he has started to believe in himself," Thomas commented.
"He is working harder this season than he has worked for a long time. So that has resulted in his improved performance.
"But there are still areas in which he needs to improve," the coach added.
Nickoy Christian had the first real chance, which was turned around the post by Dunbeholden's goalkeeper Darren Donaie.
Peter McGregor then forced two top-class saves from Damion Hyatt for Molynes.
Donaie then pulled off a double save to deny Dwight Merrick, twice from five yards.
Six minutes into the second half Merrick found Thomas unmarked at the back post and he made no mistake, finishing off the pass to score the game's only goal.
Rojay Smith and Nicholas Lawrence then wasted glorious chances to extend Dunbeholden's lead, while McGregor kept Hyatt alert with another testing drive.
Dunbeholden overtook Tivoli Gardens in eighth position. They climbed to 29 points, one more than Tivoli, and Thomas was pleased with their progress after their fourth win in five matches.
"That is something that we are thankful for and we continue to work because we do not play this game because we just want to be satisfied. We want to continue to improve and see where it takes us," he added
After five games without a win, Molynes' assistant coach Xavian Virgo said fatigue is getting the better of their small squad.
"We came here to get something from this game, we came here to win the game. We worked on things in training but it never manifested throughout the game and we fell short," he said.
"It is a bad run at the moment and we are working to improve that. We have been through a series of games over a short period of time, so some of the players are a bit tired and we have a squad that we are trying to get up the par.
"We have some young players that just came in and we are working with them to get them up to par. So we can give some other players a rest. But five games without the win is cause for concern. But we are working on it," Virgo said.
Molynes sit 10th in the 14-team table on 23 points, four above the relegation zone.
