After painfully sitting and watching his teammates begin the title defence of the Red Stripe Premier League without him for the first four games of the season, Renae Lloyd belatedly returned to action last Monday night, but it was his second game of the season that has been his big impact game.

Entering the fray with the game delicately poised at 2-1 in favour of the visitors Arnett Gardens and with 20 minutes to go, Lloyd was able to inject his pace into the Arnett attack as they resisted the efforts of the hosts UWI on Sunday.

Playing in heavy underfoot conditions due to rains that had been affecting the island for days, Lloyd was able to help his team maintain their advantage before striking the decisive blow in added time.

After winning a free kick near the edge of the area, the Arnett number five picked himself up and clipped a delicate free kick over the top of the wall and into the roof of the net, leaving a bewildered Nickolas King rooted to the spot on the other side of the goal and making the game safe for his team at 3-1 in the fourth minute of added time.

For Lloyd the goal was a very big one as he had not scored for the club in three years.

“It was very important for me to score today (Sunday). I haven’t played much since I got injured in the final versus Portmore. It is my second game since coming on the other night versus Boys’ Town and then getting a knock today; it is always good to play,” said an elated Lloyd.

The Arnett senior player was thankful for the support he had received during his time of injured.

“I thank the coach and my teammates for sticking by me and giving me the opportunity to come again and redeem myself. After three seasons of not scoring, it is a great feeling, as I said before.”

But while he can smile now after being back in action and finding the back of the net, there were days when it was all frowns.

“It was frustrating, to be honest. you come and watch games and see your teammates fight on a daily basis, and you want to go out there and help them. As I said, it feels good to be back and I want to continue now and end the season well,” noted Lloyd.

Back fit and in the thick of things, the man from Jungle is ready to rumble.

“We want to keep pace with the leaders; we are the defending champs (and) people are gunning for our head. We know how it feels because before we used to gun for other people head, like Mobay when they were winning the title, so we know what it will take to stay there,” he said.

Llyod wasn’t the only player to score in stoppage time as his teammate Damari Deacon added the icing to the cake when he blasted home a minute later to make the final score 4-1 in favour of Arnett Gardens.

Arnett moved into second spot on 12 points, one behind leaders Portmore United, whose game against Boys’ Town was not played due to a waterlogged field.

— Dwayne Richards