Vere United drubbed Humble Lion 3-1 in a drama-filled Clarendon derby in the Jamaica Premier League at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Sunday.

In addition to the four goals, there were six yellow cards, one to Vere’s head coach Donovan Duckie, and two red cards. It all climaxed when Anjay Gayle, who came on as a substitute in the 90th minute for Kevin Johnson, scored in the 92nd minute.

Johnson, who had come on for Tyrese Harrison in the 67th minute, was substituted because coach Donovan Duckie was determined to get Gayle into the game.

Before all that, Man-of-the-Match Ricardo Messam scored two goals of high quality - in the 27th and 57^th minutes - that proved to be cornerstones of the Vere United victory.

Vere United took the lead after Humble Lion’s defender Kemar Drake failed to clear his area, allowing Messam to slot home. Andrew Vanzie would pull Humble Lion level in the 37th minute from the penalty spot for a handball in the box.

Four minutes later, things began to go downhill for Humble Lion when defender Linval Lewis was ejected after picking up his second yellow card. A man short, Humble Lion conceded a second goal when Messam tapped home after the ball rebounded into his path.

Following what was their second win of the season, Vere climbed into a tie with Harbour View at the top of the table on eight points. However, Harbour View are ahead on goal difference.

Humble Lion, meanwhile, are without a point at the foot of the table after their fourth consecutive loss, which left Head Coach Andrew Price livid.

“We keep shooting ourselves in the foot every week and getting that red card so very early in the first half, we were always behind the eight ball and had to battle against a team with a numerical advantage,” Price said.

“We have to find ways of managing and playing the game properly. We have to play with some common sense and we not doing that right now, which is unfortunate, and giving up goals that the opponents don't have to work hard for.”

Meanwhile, Duckie was more than satisfied with the three points.

 “Well, full credit to my team. It’s a derby game and we know exactly what would have happened. I thought the referee had his hands full but did the best he could,” he said.

“We scored some goals today which is unlike us because we started to play from a defensive position but I thought the guys stuck to the task and it was hard work that gave us the victory.”