Photo: Alpha United vice captain Gregory Richardson prepares to receive a pass from a teammate. Alpha United clipped Harbour View 1-0 to advance to the semifinals of the CFU Club Championships last night.
A thirteenth minute strike from Kitson Bain was enough to see Alpha United FC through to the next round of the CFU Club Championships as they defeated host club Harbour View FC last night to finish on six points.
Photo: Alpha United vice captain Gregory Richardson prepares to receive a pass from a teammate. Alpha United clipped Harbour View 1-0 to advance to the semifinals of the CFU Club Championships last night.
A thirteenth minute strike from Kitson Bain was enough to see Alpha United FC through to the next round of the CFU Club Championships as they defeated host club Harbour View FC last night to finish on six points.
The withdrawal of SV Notch from the competition means that each team has to play two games instead of three and having defeated Defense Force 2-0 on Friday night means that the Guyanese based Alpha United now have an unassailable six points.
Harbour View started the game the brighter of the two teams, Brian Brown stinging the palms of Richie Richards in the Alpha goal in the fifth minute before another chance fell to Keith Kelly just two minutes later, following a good passing sequence by the hosts to create an opening. Kelly however, failed to make proper contact with the ball which was easily gathered by Richards.
Alpha United scored with their first effort on goal when Bain was allowed to control and turn just outside the area. None of the Harbour View defenders pressed the ball and the striker took full advantage of the space to arrow his shot into the left hand corner of the net, pass Michaud Barrett to give his team a shock lead.
The hosts dominated possession, but Alpha were prepared to play behind the ball, presenting a red wall for the Harold Thomas coached team to try to break down.
Harbour View lacked penetration and were almost caught on the counter fifteen minutes before the break when Alpha had a two on one situation, but Kemar ‘Taxi’ Lawrence reacted quickly to avert the danger.
Four minutes before half time, the ‘Stars of the East’ came close when a good combination move between Kelly, John-Ross Edwards and Lawrence ended with Edwards slipping a slide rule pass to Brown but the chipped effort from the striker failed to beat the alert Richards in goal.
Harbour View started the second half on the hunt for the equalizer and came close when a Nicholas Beckett’s free kick from 22 yards went inches over the crossbar with just eight minutes played in the second stanza.
The Alpha United coach, Wayne Dover must have know his team would be in for a long 45 minutes.
Alpha responded three minutes later through captain Dwight Peters whose fierce near post effort had to be batted away by Barrett for a corner.
Harbour View were making use of the space given to them through their overlapping fullbacks, Lawrence and Xavian Virgo who were providing good crosses into the box, but were unable to find a way past the stubborn Alpha defence.
Harbour View introduced Mckauley Tulloch for Demarley Oliver and switched to a 4-3-3 formation with Brown dropping into midfield. This resulted in more possession in the final third for the home team as the big striker Tulloch did well at holding the ball up.
A gilt edged chance went a begging for Harbour View, when a Virgo cross was flicked on by Tulloch but it was just out of the reach of Harwood in the 71st minute.
Harbour View threw everything they had at Alpha but the defence refused to budge.
The last chance for the home team came in stoppage time when Edwards floated a dangerous free kick to the back post. Virgo fired the ball back across goal but alert defending resulted in the ball being cleared to safety.
The final whistle was greeted with loud cheers from the handful of Alpha supporters and an excited bench as they celebrated their unlikely progress to the semifinal round.
Coach Dover credited Harbour View for their effort in the game but insisted that his players stuck to the original game plan.
“Our game plan was to frustrate them, we got the early goal which we desired and then we got behind the ball. Like in basketball, defence wins championships. We were disciplined defensively and we were confident of winning because we knew we had the forwards who could get us a goal,” he said.
Harbour View and Defense Force will play in the final group game tomorrow in a match of academic interest only.
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