GEOFFREY Hewitt, coach Portmore United, acknowledged that his team has more work to do in order to return to their glory days in the Red Stripe Premier League .

The declaration came following a 0-1 loss to fellow promoted team UWI FC at the UWI Mona Bowl on Sunday, as Hewitt lamented his team’s missed chances.

“I thought for most of the game we had control, we were in the ascendancy on a couple of occasions throughout the game, but such is the nature of the game. Once you get your chances and fail to convert them, stuff like this will happen,” Hewitt told journalists in a post-match interview.

Portmore United’s return to the nation’s top-flight started smoothly as they registered three consecutive wins — 2-0, 1-0 and 2-1 scorelines over Montego Bay United, Rivoli United and Waterhouse FC in that order.

The former champions were almost certain to have extended their unbeaten run, and came close to accomplishing the feat on two occasions. However, they were left cursing their luck after Paul Wilson and Cleon Pryce hit the crossbar and left upright, respectively.

“This team has made it the hallmark not to lose games and today (Sunday) we thought that we had it. But I must say the UWI team defended stoutly because we got some chances that we could have put the game to rest a long time ago, but we failed to convert our chances,” the tactician said.

Having dropped their first points of the campaign, Portmore United slipped to second in the 12-team standings on nine points, one behind the in-form FC Reno, who kept their unbeaten record intact with a victory on Sunday.

However, with his team only conceding for a second time in four games, Hewitt believes they can rebound next Sunday at home against Cavalier SC.

“We have some work to do; I thought we had a little lapse in concentration in terms of that free kick that was taken and led to the goal, but it’s a work in progress. It’s the second goal we have conceded in four games, so we are not really doing that badly, but there is still work to be done,” he noted.

— Sherdon Cowan