HUMBLE Lion maintained their good winning form in the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) by defeating fifth-placed Rivoli United 1-0 at the Anthony Spaulding Sport Complex on Monday.

Skipper Jermaine Christian scored the winner in the 65th minute of play.

While the victory brought Humble Lion much closer in terms of points to the magical fourth spot in the standing, neither the victory nor the defeat has changed the current position of either team.

Thus Rivoli remain in fifth position in the points standing, while Humble Lion, although moving up to 28 points, remain in sixth position with Tivoli Gardens who are also on 28 points after drubbing Sporting Central 6-2 on Sunday.

Arnett Gardens, who scored a similar victory away to Barbican on Sunday, remain firmly entrenched at the top of the points standing on 44 points with Waterhouse second on 35, Montego Bay United third, also on 35, and Harbour View on 33.

Humble Lion were scoring their fifth straight win: the last four under present coach Donovan Duckie for whom victory was particularly satisfying.

He identified what is mainly responsible for the great improvement in the performances of the team as “the particular system that has been introduced as the play pattern of the team”.

Much of Humble Lion’s improvement, the coach further stated, is the added professionalism, organisation and a more disciplined approach to attend training with a fine imposed on team members who fail to fall in line. This has gone a long way in moulding the team into a more cohesive force.

Rivoli United’s coach Calvert Fitzgerald was very disappointed with the finishing aspects of his team. “It was a good game. Hats off to Humble Lion, but had we taken our chances you would be writing a different story. As you saw, Kemar Beckford twice got into a good shooting position to score and twice hit the side netting with his efforts. Had we been able to score even one of those chances we created it would have done a world of good to team moral,” Fitzgerald surmised.