Striker Jomo Gordon notches his first as a substitute.
He toiled feverishly without reward last Sunday against Seba United at the Compound and left the field a bit dejected after not being able to join his four teammates on the score sheet. Not to be outdone he watched the game replay on television seeking answers to his many probing questions ever searching the deepest recesses of his goalscorers mind to come up with the right stuff.
As if like magic, his determination to follow his lead strikers’ shot goalwards resulted in an easy tap in after 76 minutes. The uneven surface forced a competent goalkeeper in Shaun Sawyers to fumble a difficult drive from Fabian Taylor who had shaken off a rough tackle from his marker just outside the box to the right, he turned inside firing on the run with his lethal left foot into the neck of the custodian who had been clean all afternoon on a bumpy pitch.
Coach Lennie Hyde must feel hard done as both teams gave of their best physically under demanding conditions of the scorching sun. An uneven hard surface, a fierce pace for ninety minutes left international players on both sides obviously spent forces.
A tactical chess-game boggled the mind of spectators with see-saw defence, possession, attacks and counter-attacks blocked by good goalkeepers who displayed excellent positioning punctuated with fine ball-handling against the league leading finishers who between them racked up some 62 goals all toll last season. Reon Nelson record breaking 31, accompanied by the active partner in Andrew Morrison plus new acquisition and former record holder Oniel ‘Chippy’ McDonald (26) could not dent the powerful defence of Captain Damion ‘Stewpeas’ Stewart, Clifton Waugh, sweeper young National Under 23 representative Christopher ‘Jamel’ Harvey, 19 year old Lovell Palmer and the focussed Robert Scarlett with the experienced William ‘Gary’ Richards returning from injury for his first game of the season.
It could be easily mistaken for a caribbean international as stars of the islands glistened with Grenadian Anthony Modeste pulling the strings from deep midfield while wearing the Captains’ armband with the authority while Jermaine Hue flickered on and off in spurts as Tactician Donovan Hayles new 3-5-2 formation though offbeat with the absence of 19 year old Conrad Hunt stuck to its guns as they worked hard to wrestle the game away from the reigning Premier League Champions finally deliver the deadly blow in the last quarter inflicting on them the first defeat on the year.
Rivoli United remains the only undefeated team in the competition after playing to a 2-2 draw away to Invaders in Trelawny.
In the Under 21 game Champions Portmore United won by 1-0.
THE LEAGUE BREAKS FOR INTERNATIONAL GAMES AGAINST WORLD CHAMPIONS BRASIL NEXT SUNDAY OCTOBER 12th IN LONDON PLUS OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS AGAINST CUBA IN JAMAICA, THE FIRST GAME IN CUBA ENDED 1-1.
HARBOUR VIEW PLAYS ARNETT GARDENS AT HARBOUR VIEW ON WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 15th.
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HARBOUR VIEW SLAMS SEBA 4-1, AS FOUR NEW SCORERS EXCEL!
Leading goalscorer of the League Fabian Taylor aims to rocket his left-footer goalwards but is hotly persued by Seba defenders
After the chess game ground to a halt at the end of the first half both coaches Donovan Hayles and his former neighbour Donald ‘Billy’ Perkins in assistance to Everton Tomlinson would have felt unsure if the glass was half empty or was it half full?
The scoreline remained undisturbed but clearly both benches were.
Fabian Taylor is hit badly in his spine and returns for only 6 minutes, he goes to the hospital for precuasionary checks..
Enter the second half and the good sized crowd grew in expectancy as Special Guests were introduced ranging from ‘The Doctor’ Beenie Man, world youth sprint sensation Usian Bolt in the company of his friend and ace quarter miler Jermaine Gonzales, Former Champion Player/ coach Trevor ‘ Jumpy’ Harris, Music Producer/manager Donovan Germaine was all smiles as they enjoyed the halftime entertainment provided by the 17 highly motivated “Harbour View Cheerleaders”
As the dancers exited the field of play the stage was set for the real professionals to appear, be it in the Gold and Blue of the ‘View’ or the Red and Green of Montego Bays’ finest ‘Seba’.
The first shot sizzled wide goalwards, so Seba pushed across the halfline, Harbour View strung passes at the back and tried twice to release Robert Scarlett on the left.
The second worked, when Jermaine Hue found him free about the eighteen yard box and yes leftsided. No need for explainations as he waltzed towards the penalty spot the goalkeeper at his mercy he drove his pile driver into the right far side netting, smiled gleefully, then sprinted even faster down the touchline to celebrate his first goal this season and in so doing triggering of the same spark that would soon ignite into a flame for three other teammates to burn.
Minute 62 – The excessive running off the ball last Wednesday by 18 year old Luton Shelton was rewarded by a call-up to the National Olympic (Under 23 years) a day later by National Coaches Carl Brown and Peter Cargill who were in attendance. Today he waited just over a hour to out sprint a militant Seba backfour then blast by custodian Alric Henry from 21 yards to celebrate his first goal ever at the senior Club level.
Minute 73 – Daniel Shaw will not be outdone so he rifles in a torrid right footer into the net from 22 yards as the keeper is unsighted by a maze of defenders the tiny number 16 raises his hands in triumph as teammates rush to acknowledge his latest conquest.
Minute 79 – Dino Williams has entered the field immediately after the third goal and so convinced is he that his coach had sent him to make it four, he does just that when a combination between his strike partner Jomo Gordon fines him under pressure from a defender and the unrushing goalkeeper leaves him free from a good first touch, then a more determined drag away from the keeper and nestled against the net, 4-0.
But Seba always fights to the bitter end and so they did gallantly to pressure the defence into an error with resulted in a foul being called on minute 83, Jermaine Anderson steps forward to oblige with a really well taken penalty. A light drizzle blessed the surrounding as bright smiles appeared everywhere but greatest on coach Donovan Hayles , whose young oriented squad marches from the field victorious as they takeover the lead in the Premier League on 9 points, same as Constant Spring (1-0 over Star Cosmos ) but with a better goal difference of +5 to ‘Springs’ +2.
Portmore United formerly Hazard United (1-1 with Rivoli ) are third on 8 points, Arnett Gardens (1-0 over Tivoli ) 7 points fourth. Rivoli remains undefeated on 6 points.
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HARBOUR VIEW FEMALES DEFEATS CAYMAN ISLANDS NATIONAL SQUAD BY 1 – 0, IN TWO GAME TOUR OF CAYMAN
The second game ending in a draw after some missed chances by our girls on Sunday night that could not blemish the historic victory on Saturday night at the Truman Bodden Stadium before a fair sized crowd. A defenders goal at minute 68 was enough to make all the difference in the world as the 17 girls return on Monday morning, lead by Coach/Manager Vin Blaine.
Well done girls, keep it up!
NEXT SUNDAY OCTOBER 5th, HARBOUR TRAVELS TO PORTMORE UNITED FOR ANOTHER TOP OF THE TABLE CLASH WITH ANOTHER PREVIOUSLY UNDEFEATED TEAM