Vere United surprised seven-time Jamaica Premier League (JPL) champions Portmore United on Tuesday, with a 1-0 victory at the Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence at the University of the West Indies.

Lamard Neil scored the match-winning goal in the 67th minute which enabled Vere, on four points, to move from eighth in the points standings to sixth, ahead of Portmore United, Harbour View and Molynes United.

Five teams are locked at the top of the points standings on four points, with Cavalier leading Waterhouse on goal difference. They are followed by Mount Pleasant Football Academy, Tivoli Gardens and Vere, all having the identical goal difference of one while scoring one goal.

In the match on Tuesday, Portmore controlled possession throughout as both teams failed to create good scoring opportunities in the battle on the only astroturf for football on the island.

The goal was created when Portmore’s Raffique Brian was stripped of the ball midway through his half of the pitch. It then involved three Vere players quickly playing the ball inside the Portmore penalty area. Ricardo Dennis laid the ball behind the Portmore defence for Neil to run on and tap past goalkeeper Kemar Foster.

Vere’s coach Donovan Duckie believes the victory was a result of the tactical approach taken into the match, with Portmore also aiding in their own demise tactically.

“We understood exactly how they play. I thought they moved the ball quickly that forced us into a lower block. So this is why we had to sit back around our 18-yard box, which caused them to move the ball slower. I thought that tactically they played into our hands. We got them caught in transition hence it gave us the go-ahead goal,” Duckie said.

Meanwhile, Portmore’s coach Ricardo Gardner wanted his charges to move the ball faster when they were attacking while also defending Vere’s opportunity to create the goal better.

“I think we could do a lot more with our end product. When we moved the ball quickly we looked the part, but we didn’t do it consistently enough so we will have to work on that going forward,” Gardner said.

“We just didn’t shift the ball quick enough at the top of the park and we didn’t create enough chance and we go at the other end, we gave up a sloppy goal, which the striker took well, but we could defend it a lot better,” he added.