Photo: Harbour View captain Nicholas Beckett protects the ball from Waterhouse striker Kemar Beckford during their Red Stripe Premier League match at Drewsland on Sunday. Harbour View won the game courtesy of a 49th minute strike from defender Rosario Harriott.
On a day when goals were scarce and four of the five games played in the Red Stripe Premier League were decided by 1-0 margins, a 49th minute striker from defender Rosario Harriott was enough to give Harbour View all three points against Waterhouse and erase the horrible memory of the 7-0 thrashing they received the last time they visited Drewsland.
The game took a while to warm up as both teams felt each other out, but in the 7th minute Jermaine ‘Tuffy’ Anderson stung the palms of Mark Bryan in the Harbour View goal when he cut inside from the right unto his favored left foot and fired a powerful shot towards goal.
Andre Leslie had a sight at goal and pulled the trigger, but his effort was always rising and failed to trouble Bryan in the 19th minute.
Claudious Blackburn had the first real effort on target for Harbour View in the 23rd minute and his delicate chip was headed for the roof of the net before a retreating Richard McCallum managed to tip the ball over the crossbar just in time.
Harbour View thought they had taken the lead two minutes later when Ranique Muir had the ball in the back of the net when he responded quickest to a parry from McCallum after a thumping effort from Mark Miller. But their celebrations were cut short as the effort was ruled out for offside.
Desperate defending from both Nicholas Beckett and Daminan Anderson helped keep out a goal bound effort from ‘Tuffy’ Anderson as the striker tried to break the deadlock.
The last chance of the half fell to Kemar Beckford following a good team move by Waterhouse. Beckford was played in by Anderson, but his well struck shot was beautifully saved by Bryan, as the teams went in locked 0-0 at the break.
Immediately after the restart, with less than a minute played, Miller had the chance to put Harbour View ahead but shot straight at McCallum from the edge of the area while having the whole goal to aim at.
Three minutes later, the visitors took the lead when Harriott fired home at the back post direct from a John-Ross Edwards corner kick.
Waterhouse went in search of the equalizer and should have gotten it in the 72nd minute, when Anderson got the better of Ian ‘Pepe’ Goodison and fired on target. His shot was pushed straight up in the air by Bryan and Kenroy Howell, under pressure from a defender, headed the ball over the crossbar from inside the six yard box.
Evan Taylor was next to come close when he struck the upright directly from a left sided free kick and was left holding his head in despair in the 83rd minute.
Marlon Laing had the easiest of chances to grab a point for Waterhouse, the first minute into added time, when Anderson rolled the ball across the face of the goal but Laing scooped the ball over the crossbar from about three yards out to leave the home support in shock. That was as good as it got for Waterhouse as they slipped to their 8th loss of the season.
“We really needed a response after a bad result last week, a game in which we did very well but we didn’t get the result,” said Harbour View head coach Ludlow Bernard.
“Today we came here with the intent to get all three points. We are trying to see if we can establish some kind of a momentum…because we are confident that our play has been up to par. Our finishing…could be a lot better, but these three points today will certainly go a far way in our quest for the championship.”
Waterhouse coach Anthony Patrick showed a brave face when confronted with the reality currently facing his team.
“We still have to continue work, we still have 18 games to go, still not worried, we still want to get the first win in this round. This is our first loss in the round, so definitely we have to continue working and make a few changes. Hopefully the changes we make can bear some fruit for us come Wednesday.”
The win enabled Harbour View to separate themselves from Tivoli Gardens and Boys Town as both teams lost by similar 1-0 margins to FC Reno and Montego Bay United respectively and remained on 18 points while Harbour View moved up to 21 points.
Waterhouse in the mean time slipped back to the foot of the table as the former cellar dwellers, Rivoli United clipped Cavalier SC 1-0 on a Coey Burke 31st minute strike to move up to 10th position, as the ‘musical chairs’ at the bottom of the table continues. Cavalier slipped one place to 11th as their struggles in front of goal continue. They have scored only 5 goals in their fifteen games played so far this season.
Leaders Portmore United registered the biggest win of the day, thumping the UWI 3-0 at Juici Park in Clarendon courtesy of two goals from Jovan East and one from Rodian Jennings. They now have 31 points, two more than Montego Bay United for whom Owayne Gordon scored to secure the three points against Boys Town.
The next set of matches will be played this Wednesday and Thursday, while the Monday Night fixture to be played tonight sees hosts Arnett Gardens welcoming Humble Lion into the ‘Concrete Jungle’.
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