Adlam ... scored a hat-trick

Alanzo Adlam, a member of the failed national Under-20 unit, scored a hat-trick as Sporting Central Academy hammered Village 4-0 at Brancourt on Sunday to set off contrasting emotions among teams hovering in the relegation-threatened bottom six of the Digicel Premier League.

Village stay rooted at the bottom but Sporting Central's latest win, the fourth in this round, moved them one place above the ninth position which they have locked for the last three weekends.

Adlam's strikes came in the 33rd, 78th and 88th minutes. Substitute Shauntel Mundle was rewarded for persistency in the 85th minute after hitting the base of the right upright earlier.

Disarray

The Village team, which seemed in disarray following the goal rout, now face relegation, even though new team coach, Cassman Williams, held a little hope for a turnaround.

"We needed to win this game to give us some hope, but we have a lot of things to work out," Williams told The Gleaner.

This is his third stint, having served as assistant coach to Dr Dean Weatherly and Geoffery Maxwell, albeit in better times for the club. Another coach, Marvin Tate, was seen speaking to a few angry players after the game and Williams intimated that Tate could officially join the new set-up, following a meeting with club executives early this week.

Despite a torrid afternoon in which they chased the ball often while failing to really threaten the home side, they had two players sent off and even the coaching staff expressed disappointment with the referee's decision on two of the goals scored by Adlam.

Controversy

The first, which came after a spate of missed opportunities by another member of the national Under-20 unit, Levaughn Williams, where Adlam seemingly chested the ball down fairly before running on to score easily past Jacomena Barrett. The Village camp felt he had handled the ball before taking the shot. They also argued that it was Andre Williams' shoulder, and not his hand, which was used to stop a clear shot on goal after goalkeeper Barrett had been beaten. Adlam scored easily from the penalty spot then.

But there was no controversy on his third goal when he ran on well to beat Barrett easily for the third time.

Still it could have been worse for the Trelawny team, as a strike by Williams was disallowed for offside, while Karl Wiggan and Jevaughn Watson both hit the left upright.