TOLL GATE, Clarendon — Allien Whittaker has not played competitive football for the past two seasons. But judging from what happened on Sunday at Juici Patties Park in south west Clarendon, you couldn’t tell.

Whittaker, the former national age-group goalkeeping star, said he’s trying to resurrect his playing career — which halted several years ago when he suffered a serious knee injury and subsequently joined the army — in time for the 2018 World Cup campaign.

While he was only required to make one crucial save in the first half, he tended goal like he was still in his prime; almost like we remembered him as a teenager when he shone for Jamaica at the 1999 Under-17 World Cup in New Zealand and the Under-20 edition a year later in Argentina where he was named the best goalkeeper ahead of the current Chelsea and Czech Republic goalie Petr Cech.

The way he marshalled his box — plucking crosses out of mid-air and bellowing instructions to his defenders — made a huge difference to Sporting Central Academy earning a hard-fought 0-0 draw against the marauding Montego Bay United than, perhaps, them wilting under the pressure in the dying moments and giving up a goal.

“Him bad, man,” noted Loxley Reid, the Montego Bay United goalkeeper coach, who was even more baffled after learning that Whittaker had not tended goal in a competitive fixture since the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) withdrew its Super League team from competition – “A weh u se to me,” noted Reid.

Perhaps the only blot on his scorecard from this game was the average nature of his goal kicks in the first half, which he duly corrected in the second half. “Yow, the man kick the ball clean enuh,” observed one spectator who said he was surprised the former Clarendon College, Portmore United, Rivoli United and Village United goalie was still in such good shape.

“For me, the game is more mental now,” said the 30-year-old Whittaker after the game. “Experience will allow you to make better decisions”, which was clearly evident throughout this game.

The quickness and range of his ball distribution served Sporting well on the counter-attack — which they were required to do a lot. On at least three occasions in the first half he released left-sided players Derron McLeod and Michael Moreland with a clear advantage on their markers, but failure to deliver a good cross eventually thwarted those attacks.

For Montego Bay United, who were drawing for the sixth time in their last seven games, the result was still good enough to keep them in second in the 12-team Red Stripe Premier League. And while coach Donovan Duckie admitted to be concerned by these stalemates, he said “it would have been an even bigger concern if this was a losing run.”

“We are happy for the point, as long as we continue to consolidate our position,” he noted. “We will continue to work on converting these ones into three.”

His Sporting Central counterpart, Nigel Stewart, was equally pleased with the point. “This represents an improvement from the Cavalier game (which they lost 2-0),” he said. “We tried to counter this MoBay team with their speed, which worked well. Scoring that (clear) chance that we got on the counter would have made it even better.”

Sporting remain in the lower half of the league on 21 points.

TEAMS:

Sporting Central Academy — Allien Whittaker, Andre Morrison, Derron McLeod, Kemar Drake, Dale Watson, Dwayne Campbell (Kadian Wynter 69th), Camaal Reid, Corey Hylton (Andrew Isaacs 88th), Gregory Lewis (Gregory Lewis 60th) , Francois Swaby, Michael Moreland.

Subs not used: Michael Parcells, Mathew Davidson, Kevon Reid, Romoy Parkins.

Booked: Hylton (31st), Watson (44th), Wynter (90+)

Montego Bay United — Jacomeno Barrett, Ladale Richie, Winston Wilkinson, Graeme Green, Olando McBayne, Keniel Kirlew, Fabian McCarthy, Ronaldo Rodney (Leon Irving 66th), Allan Ottey, Omar Gordon (Mauricio Gordon 77th), Leslie St Fleur.

Subs not used: Romaine Barnes, Jefroy Leslie, John Barrett, Mauricio Gordon, Donovan Carey, Dwayne Ambusley, Leon Irving.

Referee: Raymond Bogle

Assistants: Garnet Page, Omar Mills

Fourth Official: Karl Tyrell

Match Commissary: Dudley Powell