Harbour View captured their third premier league crown after beating Boys’ Town 2-1 and saw second-placed Tivoli Gardens succumbed 1-2 to St Georges in the Digicel Premier League (DPL) with two games remaining. Harbour View started the day four points infront of Tivoli Gardens and with only two rounds to go, has an unassailable seven point lead. With that the expected final day show down between the top two teams will be meaningless and Tivoli Gardens will have the unpleasant time of forming the guard of honour at home for the team that dethroned them. Harbour View moved to 73 points from 36 games including 22 wins and will have two games in which to plan their celebrations. The Stars of the East, winners in 1999/2000 and 200607 seasons, got their goals from Marcelino Blackburn and Jermaine Hue in the 51st and 81st minutes respectively. Blackburn headed home a right sided cross before Peter Keyes pulled Boys’ Town level tapping home after his initial header rebounded to him from the left upright in the 52nd minute. The script was written and the stage set for the Jermaine Hue to be the star performer and he delivered in style. With nine minutes remaining, he bend a 35 metre freekick just like Beckham. As it curled over the wall and nestled in the roof of the net, Hue turned away in disdain and barely celebrated. It was another of his many freekicks but it was nothing new to him. But little did he knew that it would be the goal that gave his team the 2009/10 DPL title. Boys’ Town for the brave effort remained in fifth spot with 45 points and duly played their part in making yesterday’s encounter worthy one.
Meanwhile in the late kickoff at Lynch Park in Portland, home team St Georges ruined Tivoli’s title ambitions with a come from behind 2-1 win. Navion Boyd gave Tivoli Gardens the lead from the penalty spot in the 26th minute with his 13th goal of the season which puts him into joint second on the goal scoring chart behind Rivoli United Devon Hodges on 17. But Dwayne Holmes equalized for the home team in the 32nd minute also from the penalty spot before Richardo Watson notched the winner in the 57th minute. Tivoli remained second on 66 points, well clear of the third placed team while St Georges moved to 50 points and all but wrapped up fourth spot.
At Drewsland, home team Waterhouse FC consolidated third spot with a 1-0 win over sixth-placed Village United. National goalkeeper Richard McCallum converted an 18th minute penalty as Waterhouse moved to 56 points while Village United stayed sixth with 44 points.
Former champions Portmore United secured DPL football for next season after battling to a 0-0 draw with Arnett Gardens at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex. Portmore, which was having their worst season, moved to 43 points and cannot be surpassed by both bottom teams August Town and Sporting Central Academy with two rounds remaining and will play each other in the penultimate round. However, the same cannot be said of another former champion Arnett Gardens which inched to 39 points in 10th spot and are just two points above the relegation zone. Arnett Gardens will welcome Humble Lions on Sunday before finishing their campaign away to cellar team August Town in what could be a real relegation dogfight to conclude the season.
At the Spanish Town Prison Oval, Rivoli United took a step closer to safety with a 3-2 win over August Town thanks to a double strike from Devon Hodges. The league’s top marksman netted in the 40th and 75th minutes taking his tally to 17, four clear of Kevin Lamey of Waterhouse and Tivoli’s Boyd on 13 each. The promising David Lewis scored Rivoli’s third goal in the 60th minute as they raced to a 3-0 advantage. But August Town fought back with Akeem Thenstead and Raymond Williamson in the 72nd and 82nd minutes respectively. Spanish Town-based Rivoli climbed to 42 points, five above the relegation zone and should feel confident of avoiding the drop this season. August Town remained rooted to the bottom on 36 points but trail 10th-placed Arnett by only two points and should be fancying themselves with two games remaining.
At Effortville in the Clarendon derby, home team Humble Lions and Sporting Central played to a 0-0 draw also in their relegation battle. Humble Lions, in their first season of top flight football, should feel the better of the two with the share of the points, moving to 42 points while retaining their eighth spot. With two rounds remaining it is hard to see them being surpassed by any three teams below them at this point. Sporting Central in their third season in the league, remained in 11th spot on 37 points and are favourites along with August Town to be relegated.