Photo: Harbour View captain and goal scorer Nicholas Beckett makes a through pass as Cavalier midfielder Donovan McCurdy tries to recover. Beckett scored a free kick to give his team a 1-0 win. Looking on is Harbour View midfielder John-Ross Edwards.
Former champions Harbour View took advantage of slips by two of the top four teams in the Red Stripe Premier League on Sunday when their 1-0 win over Cavalier saw them climb above Waterhouse into third as well as close the gap on leaders Montego Bay United who drew 0-0 at home with bottom place Barbican.
The game had an even start as both teams displayed good composure. The final passes were not the best inside the first 10 minutes of play however.
Neither team took control of the game and had no real looks on goal because of some good defending. It was a rather unimpressive first 20 minutes of play with no goal scoring opportunities.
Donovan McCurry saw his powerful shot go miles away from the goal in the 22nd minute, which was the first real goal scoring chance of the match.
The Stars of the East struggled to deal with a Cavalier team that was doing all the right things to create goal scoring opportunities but just could not finish.
Girvon Brown received a ball 4 yards from goal and he went for power and unbelievably kicked the ball onto the upright with the Harbour View custodian out of his goal.
Captain Nicholas Beckett’s free kick from 26 yard was well saved by Kadeem Davis in goal in the 38th minute. It was a good kick from the free kick specialist, which was the best chance for Harbour View in the half.
Cavalier got the best chances of the half but their terrible form in front of goal continued to haunt them. Harbour View struggled to find any sort of rhythm in the first half, with Ranique Muir toiling due to a lack of service from those around him.
Cavalier were out of the blocks fast in the second half and should have had a penalty in the 51st minute, when Rosario Harriott handled the ball inside the box, but the referee and the lineman failed to see the hand ball and Harbour View was let off the hook.
A battle for midfield supremacy produced some very interesting tackles that the spectators felt should have produced yellow cards. Both teams were giving up possession too easily, however, Cavalier was getting some half chances and they just could not get the ball beyond Michaud Barrett in the Harbour View goal.
The home team went in front in the 75 minute. A beautiful Beckett free kick from 24 yards went just inside the post beating Davis all ends up.
Jermie Lynch was fouled just outside the 18 yard box and Beckett stepped up again to smack his effort against the crossbar, with Davis stranded again once more.
It was all Harbour View and the goal was like a tonic for them, as they were taking charge of the game from then.
Rudolph Speid was disappointed after the match and thought his team deserved to win the game.
“We failed to take our chances and that cost us the game. We played better than Harbour View but we failed to score. Not scoring goals has plagued us in the second round”.
Coach of Harbour View Andrew Hines thought they played a poor game.
“Cavalier could have scored a couple of goals in the first half but they did not and we got a free kick and made use of it and it was good enough for us to get the three points. It was a poor game but a beautiful free kick from our captain. It’s a good win that take us third in the standings.”
Cavalier has slipped a place to seventh having picked up a single point from their last five games.
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