Holy Trinity swamped Jose Marti 4-0 to return to winning ways in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup on Saturday, as Phillon Lawrence scored all four goals to take them up to 12 points in Group G.

Lawrence scored twice from the penalty spot and twice from open play to take his tally to nine goals so far this season.

Still smarting from a 1-2 loss to Wolmer’s in the top-of-the-table Group G clash last Monday, the Devon Anderson-coached team looked sluggish and took some time to find any sort of a rhythm. They dominated a Jose Marti team lacking in leadership on the field but never looked the silky-smooth team they have shown themselves to be in the past.

Lawrence got his first of the afternoon from the spot in the 30th minute and Holy Trinity maintained the slight advantage to the half-time interval.

Both teams continued to display sub-par performances until Lawrence took over the game. First he converted his second penalty in the 69th minute, before completing his hat-trick a minute later when he stole the ball off a Jose Marti defender to slot home past the hapless Romane Neil in goal.

Jose Marti conceded the fourth goal of the game when they were caught cold on the counter. Desperate to pull at least one goal back, Jose Marti committed numbers in attack for a corner kick. A quick clearance from defence allowed Lawrence to run on to through pass and slot past Neil from the edge of the area.

While acknowledging that his team had really failed to spark, Anderson was grateful for the win.

 “A 4-0 win, we welcome it, even though it wasn’t a win of my liking. We didn’t go out there and display our dominance. Nevertheless, good try Jose Marti. They came over here, they fought a hard battle, but we were victors in the end.”

Anderson also spoke about the contribution of his talisman, Phillon Lawrence.

“From the get-go Lawrence is our main go-to man; all credit to him today (Saturday). He scored four and we give thanks.”

He also promised that his team would be ready for their next challenge against Waterford on Tuesday.

“We take it one game at a time and the next game against Waterford will be a hard-fought battle — but we are ready and up for the task.”

Lawrence said he had to take over the game when he did, as his teammates had failed to come up with the goods.

“I am grateful to get four goals in a match. I really deserve it because I gave it my all today. My team didn’t come up as much as we wanted to, so I had to pick it up in my hands and do the work.”

Lawrence has already reached half the target he has set for himself in goal-scoring for the season, and promises to make up for the loss to Wolmer’s the next time they face each other.

“I want over 18 goals for this season…nine is good for a start to go off in the second round. Against Wolmer’s we figured out that they are not the team we expected, so in the second leg we will do the job.”

Meanwhile group leaders Wolmer’s dropped their first points of the season when they were held 1-1 at Pembroke Hall.

Wolmer’s now lead the group by a single point at 13, while Holy Trinity have 12 from five games played.