Photo: Harbour View hat-trick hero Ranique Muir on the ball, teammate Mckaully Tulloch looks on while Boys Town defender Garfield Gillespie tries to intercept. Harbour View won the RSPL game 4-1 on Sunday.
Harbour View FC led by a Ranique Muir hat-trick easily got by rivals Boys Town FC 4-1 on Sunday, in a very exciting game at the National Stadium, to register their first win of the Red Stripe Premier League season. Both teams scored inside the first four minutes of an exciting first half.
The Stars of the East took the lead in the third minute when Kemar “Taxi” Lawrence sprinted down the left flank before whipping in a cross that Muir pounced and fired the ball into the far corner beyond a stranded Leon Goffe in the Boys Town goal.
The Harbour View spectators were still celebrating when the Red Brigade drew level through 17 year old sensation Shamar Nicholson who scored from close range to level the scores just a minute later. It was the striker’s second goal for the club in as many starts.
Boys Town took control of the contest and should have taken the lead when Rafiek Thomas got the better of Damion Oliver but he failed to make the defender pay, shooting into the side netting in the 8th minute. Thomas missed an even more glaring opportunity in the 15th minute when Oliver’s back pass sold Levor Williams short in the Harbour View goal. Thomas raced onto the ball but failed to hit the target when he went for the near post with the far corner unprotected.
Four minutes later Nicholson had a chance to add to his tally but failed to get his header on target when he was left unattended at the back post with Williams stranded.
Harbour View got a sight at goal in the 21st minute after good work from John-Ross Edwards who played in Mckaully Tulloch and the striker played the ball into the path of Nicholas Beckett whose shot went just over the crossbar. Shortly after, Jermie Lynch headed just over the crossbar from an Edwards cross as the Andrew Hines coached team fought their way back into the contest.
Harbour View was firmly on the front foot and created a number of chances before Tulloch gave them the lead shortly before half time. The striker received a pass on the left side of the box and showed great poise to pick his spot, unleashing a curling effort into the far corner beyond the despairing dive of Goffe.
Harbour View lead 2-1 at the break but it could have been by a wider margin had Goffe not come up with a brilliant save to deny Lynch at point blank range.
Six minutes after the restart Harbour View knocked the wind out of their opponents when Muir had his second of the game. Tulloch provided the assist for his strike partner after Goffe’s clearance looped straight to him, and Muir didn’t need a second invitation to fire into the back of the net.
Down 3-1 with more than a third of the game left to play, Boys Town tried to rally but were not about to be let off the hook. Muir delivered the hammer blow in the 60th minute when he turned his marker too easily and fired yet another bomber into the net to score three goals in his first game of the season.
Harbour View managed the rest of the game well to move up five places to fifth position in the league while Boys Town slipped two positions down to ninth.
Harbour View assistant coach Dwayne Blake was happy for the team’s first win, “It was a good performance from the team despite conceding the early goal. We always felt that we could get the job done and to score four goals was good for the team. The season is still young so we just need to try to get some more wins under our belts and push towards the top of the charts.”
Andrew Price was left to rue missed chances yet again. “We failed to put away our chances in the first half and it came back to haunt us yet again. We had three clear chances after we equalized and missed them all. But it is a young team and they will have to keep working hard and learn out there on the field.”
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