Harbour View waltzed outside of the Edward Seaga Sports Complex with their shiny new Digicel Premier League trophy in hand after pouring salt into the bruised pride of dethroned champions Tivoli Gardens, with a confident 2-1 triumph yesterday afternoon.
Relegated to second place, and days after the sacking of coach Lenworth Hyde Sr, the Tivoli Gardens players seemed lost during the opening stages of the game and it was little surprise when enterprising midfielder Andre Steele made the most of some loose marking to fire home a goal from the top of the penalty box in the sixth minute.
The Stars of the East seemed to have forgotten that the league title was already wrapped up as they turned the screws on the deflated Tivoli Gardens outfit.
However, they were unable to extend their lead before the diminutive Keammar Daley expertly curled a 20-yard free kick from the right, which went beyond the reach of goalkeeper Michaud Barrett, to level the scores in the 39th minute.
Pacy striker Andre Fagan would seal the victory for the new champions in the 63rd minute after flicking the ball over the head of defender Kasai Hinds at the top of the penalty area before dispatching his shot out of the reach of Edsel Scott in the Tivoli Gardens goal.
Coach elated
Winning coach Donovan Hayles was elated with the win, and took pride in his team’s performance despite already winning the title before the game.
“I think we played a very good game, especially considering the fact that we had already won the competition. I’m very pleased with the approach of the players,” Hayles said. “Both teams actually, because Tivoli Gardens came out and did very well. The players’ response was great, they wanted to show determination and go out on a high and they came and delivered.”
Hayles also paid tribute to the team’s management for sticking with him throughout testing times and also highlighted the contribution of players who started the season with the club but are now on contract overseas.
“I’m still feeling elated about winning the championship. I had been through a lot but I still believed in myself and there were people inside the club who believed in me like managers Clyde Jureidini and Carvel Stewart,” said Hayles. “I want to pay tribute to our captain, Lovel Palmer, who led the team with excellence this year, also Dwayne Miller, who was tremendous around the back and did well and a lot of work with our reserve goalkeeper, who himself came in and did very well too. It was not a job that was done by only the players who are still here.”
Brian Rose, manager of Tivoli Gardens, was full of praise for the new champions, but was also pleased with his team’s efforts this year.
“First of all I must congratulate Harbour View, they had a good season and I know they worked hard for it,” said Rose.
“We realised that we were out of the title running, but we decided to give our best nonetheless, but unfortunately, we still lost.
“I think we did good throughout the season, we might have had some poor results at some point but overall I think the team did well. It was a decent season to end up second after being champions is good … . To me it was a good season,” Rose ended.