ROEN Nelson scored in time added as Portmore United overcame a stubborn De la Vega City, 1-0, to reach the semi-finals of the LIME/Happy Sutherland KO at Prison Oval on Saturday.

The veteran marksman who was a peripheral figure throughout the encounter, delivered when it mattered most, when he instinctively let fly a low, hard drive after the ball fortuitously fell for him, with De la Vega’s goalkeeper David Morgan caught out of position.

“A lot of credit to the De la Vega team, they played a disciplined game, they stayed behind the ball, they were very compact and they made it very difficult for us throughout the game.

“But when you have a (Roen) Nelson on the field you can look for something special from him,” said Calvin Lewis of Portmore.

The Premier League leaders will meet Rodwood FC in a ‘Sunshine City’ derby at a date to be announced.

This was a game Portmore was expected to dominate and win convincingl,y especially after the curtain-raiser between Old Harbour Bay FC and McCook Pen FC produced fours goals, with the former coming out 3-1 victors.

As expected, Lewis’ charges dominated possession for the most part, but were surprised by a well-organised Dela la Vega defence which was impregnable for 90 minutes.

In the first half, the goalkeepers had little to do as the game was pedestrian and devoid of attacking intent. Surely, De la Vega, who play in the South Confed Super League, were the happier of the two heading into the break.

On the resumption, though, Portmore upped the tempo, as they tried to get that opening goal.

However, De la Vega, whose fitness level was well below par and without three of their regular starters, were happy to keep as many bodies behind the ball as possible.

Portmore laid siege on their opponents’ defence, stringing passes at will, but each time they got to the final third they failed to breach a compact red wall marshalled by Cory Rodriguez, who had an excellent game.

Maintaining possession was crucial, Lewis noted.

“The objective was to keep possession. We have a big game coming up Wednesday (against Waterhouse FC) and we wanted to see how much we can keep the ball away from the opponents. Once we keep playing, they will get tired and we’ll find some openings,” he said.

There were moments when Portmore could have prized an opening.

Deep into the match, playmaker Andrew Vanzie found midfield partner Ricardo Cousins inside the danger zone with a perfectly-weighted cross, but the latter’s first touch was poor, allowing De la Vega’s defence to mop up.

Morgan was then forced to save low to his right when Eric Vernon shot firmly on the turn.

With two minutes of time added signalled by Bahamian referee Wilson DaCosta, the game seemed destined for extra-time, and possibly, penalties.

But with the last attack of a very tactical encounter, Nelson pounced on a poor clearance by the onrushing Morgan and the striker need not a second invitation as he buried the ball inside the right bottom corner of the goal with his first touch.

Despite being eliminated, De la Vega’s coach Zeikel Simpson wasn’t disappointed by the display of his players.

“During the Christmas season we were a bit off; we’re not physically where we want the team to be. We know it was going to be difficult trying to keep Portmore at bay.

“The plan was to play a tight game for 80 minutes and try steal it in the last 10 minutes, but unfortunately, it never work out. We lost the game in the last minute,” Simpson said.

“Hats off to Portmore. They played a disciplined game, they stayed patiently and they got the victory in the end,” he said.