TOLL GATE, Clarendon — Ten-man Sporting Central Academy held on for a 3-2 victory over Arnett Gardens at Juici Park yesterday to notch their second win of the Red Stripe Premier League season.

The south-west Clarendon side, looking to stem a run of three successive defeats, opened the scoring on 11 minutes through the nippy Michael Moreland.

The visiting Arnett outfit equalised 11 minutes before the break when veteran striker Kevin ‘Pele’ Wilson stroke home from the penalty spot.

But Sporting made the points safe with an impressive second-half display — which yielded quick-fire goals from Francois Swaby (penalty 62nd) and Kadian Wynter (69th) — despite losing central defender Linval Lewis to a late red card and the concession of a stoppage time header from Dicoy Williams.

With the win, Nigel Stewart’s side improved their points tally to six from five games. And with three games in hand, starting with Wednesday’s clash against promoted Barbican, Sporting can move further away from the relegation zone, which is currently occupied by Humble Lion and Barbican following defeats to Montego Bay United (2-0) and Harbour View (2-1), respectively.

Arnett, in the meantime, were suffering a third straight loss, following earlier defeats to Cavalier and Reno, which continued their downward slide.

They remain on 11 points from eight games, but have now dropped out of the top four for the first time this season.