Photo: Clash of the number 20’s – Daminan Anderson of Harbour View protects the ball from Weston Forrest in their Yellow Pages/Jackie Bell KO quarter finals at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Wednesday night. Harbour View won the game 2-1 despite a late strike from Forrest.
Harbour View FC ended the reign of champions Tivoli Gardens FC in the Yellow Pages/Jackie Bell Knock Out competition, when they clipped them 2-1 on Wednesday night, at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.
A goalless first half saw both teams spurn a number of easy chances with Harbour View being the guiltier of the two. The playing conditions, which were made slippery by persistent afternoon rains and a light shower early in the game, did not make it easy for the players to keep their feet. However, some of the glaring misses were not solely down to the wet surface.
Both coaches must have been wondering if there would be goals in the game, or if their team would be punished for missing so many easy chances, Andre Morgan for Tivoli and Ranique Muir for Harbour View, were particularly culpable.
The misses continued in the second half but Harbour View midfielder, John-Ross Edwards finally found a path to goal in the 70th minute.
A sweeping left sided move saw over lapping left back Daminan Anderson being played in by Joel Senior. The cross from Anderson near the by-line picked out Edwards at the top of the area. The player had enough time to set himself and fire through a crowd of players, into the back of the net.
With their grip on the title slipping, Tivoli was forced on the offensive. Rodico Wellington who came in for Rohan Reid had two bites at the cherry but was unable to beat Lavor Williams at his near post, five minutes from time.
In the 90th minute, another substitute, Damion Harwood made the game safe for the Stars of the East, when he beat the offside trap, before producing a sublime chip over the head of the advancing Davin Dawkins to make it 2-0.
Weston Forrest made the last two minutes of stoppage time interesting when he prodded home at the back post to make it 2-1, but it proved to be too little too late as Harbour View advanced to yet another semi-final in the competition.
Harbour View assistant coach, Dwayne Blake was satisfied with the performance of the team.
“I think it was a good performance from the team. It was a workman like performance in difficult conditions. The wet surface made it difficult for the players but they stuck to the task and we were able to come away with the victory. It would have been great if we had been able to keep a clean sheet.
“We set a goal at the start of the season to win all trophies and after the heartbreak in the FLOW Cup we are even more focused on getting this cup. We are looking forward to going all the way in this one,” Blake concluded.
Alvin Shaw, head coach of Tivoli believes his team has hit the wall again.
“We gave it a good try. We played against a good and organized team tonight. The team is going through a spell again, we have taken another dip. We need to discuss it and try and lift them again. I am going to experiment with the youngsters because they are giving me more energy than the senior players right now.”
Harbour View will face Boys Town who defeated Arnett Gardens 4-2 in the second game of the double header.
The competition continues today with the other two quarter finals at the Waterhouse Mini-Stadium. Barbican will oppose Rockfort 6:00 p.m, before Cavalier SC do battle with Waterhouse FC in the all premier league clash at 8:00 p.m.
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