Mexico's Atlante win at Marvin Lee
Joe Public limped out of the CONCACAF Champions League, after losing the third of their home matches on Tuesday night by a 2-0 margin to five-time Mexican champions Atlante at the Marvin Lee stadium.
The "Eastern Lions" had won by a 1-0 margin in Cancun, Mexico. But at home, they were trailing as early as the seventh minute when Atlante striker Ishmael Valadez scored from close in. And Joe Public shot themselves in the foot in the 55th when goalkeeper Alejandro Figueroa hit a poor clearance and found the most dangerous man on the field, Gabriel Pereyra. The Atlante striker then hit a 40-metre shot which beat Joe Public's Colombia keeper as he scrambled back towards his goal. Victory moved Atlante to eight points, and gives them a shot at reaching the quarter-final stage, while Joe Public's run in the series will end when they travel to Honduras for their final group match against CD Olympia.
Joe Public, who had wins over New England Revolution and Atlante (1-0) in the Champions series, lost all their home matches, going down to CD Olympia (3-1), the Montreal Impact (4-1) and finally Atlante.
It was imperative that the Pro League club got a win on Tuesday night. But, they struggled to match the ball movement and off-the-ball runs of Atlante, currently second in the top division in Mexico and also in top form. It came as no surprise therefore, when playmaker Luis Gabriel Rey's through ball carved out a clear path on the right for Pereyra, and he in turn hit a short pass which Valadez bundled into the net from three metres.
Five minutes later, Valadez took Rey's through ball, and though heavily marked by Jamaican Christopher Harvey, still managed to get off a shot, and only just missed the far post. The Eastern Lions were pulled apart at all angles by the ball movement and short passing of the Mexicans. But, they got better as the match wore on, and were able to get a couple of good shots on goal. Both Jamaican Roen Nelson and Wolry Wolfe went close from distance. Nelson's shot from the edge of the penalty in the 25th minute went closest to pulling Joe Public level as it appeared to just hit the top of the crossbar before heading over.
Joe Public appeared a more formidable unit at the start of the second half when veteran Arnold Dwarika replaced Lyndon " Chubby" Andrews. They pushed the Mexicans back, won a couple free-kicks, and looked capable of getting level until Figueroa's mistake cost them the match.
Figueroa had gone wide to get a loose ball, but only cleared it straight to the feet of Pereyra, whose long shot beat the keeper.
Joe Public founght on, but without the same conviction. Still, substitute Shane Calderon missed the far corner a couple of times, including when volleying Wolfe's cross across the face of goal in the 69th. And Calderon's cross towards Gregory Richardson also forced a desperate lunge from Federico Vila, Atlante's keeper. Late on, Figueroa undid some of the earlier damage by making a couple good stops.But by then, it was too little, and far, far too late.