Playing away from home on our “Special Day” was not a deterrant to the “Stars of the East” as even the extremely questionable “Offside non-call” by Referee Lewin Purser which led to a 0-1 deficit in the 17th minute by Kirk Ramsay, would dampen the spirits on a cold and blustery night when a cold front drifted across the island.
Quick passing and slick interplay highlighted the first half with HVFC stringing the chords of football orchestration, climaxed by a buzzing crescendo as shots reigned on Leon Goffe in goal. He withstood the avalanche to keep his sheet, white as the driven snow at the 45 minute mark.
Kemar Petrekin and Andre Fagan, wanted a goal by the burly Omar Parker and his associates would physically stand in their way, while pushing and shoving played their part as the ploy to man-handle attackers were welcomed by the errant officials on the night.
Squad rotation was employed by Coach ‘DV’ Hayles as he placed all of seven (7) new faces in the starting eleven, initially resulting in some mistakes, misunderstandings and lack of execution. It was from one of these errors that Rivoli benefitted as Romario Campbell and Oniel Smith were on different wave lengths coming out of defense as Devon Hodges was the recipient of the blunder, which he relayed to Ramsay alone at the penalty spot to score on isolated, custodian Michaud Barrett.
Veteran Smith would have his day, as a cluster of players in the box, bounced around a threatening ball only as far as Fagan who lobbed to Smith to place away from goalkeeper Goffe in the 53rd minute, equalizing promptly in the second half.
Harbour View had sounded a deadly warning to strike once more, as Rivoli now had to abandon their defensive configuration to search for yet another goal as the knockout format quickly reminded them. It was not what they planned for but without any options they now had to muster up new creative juices to win.
Winning comes at a price. The asking value of this particular situation was going to be henceforth, how does Rivoli release the defensive shackles and still frustrate the advances of the eastern Kingston invaders, who were now in the destructive mood.
Regular starters, Kavin Bryan (68’) and Dicoy Williams (88’) joined the party late in the second half following the introduction of schoolboy McKauly Tulloch after 58 minutes.
Hungry Bryan, baffled the tiring and battle-worn defense with telling effect, until he dribbled once more to the touchline to cross to Romario Campbell whose left-footed blast was well blocked on the line by Goffe. The rebound would balloon into the path of Marcelino Blackburn who redirected from whence it came, to score in the second segment of time added on, sealing the victory by 2-1, with 6 minutes remaining. It was all over long before the whistle released the pressure on Rivoli.