'Stars of the East' shine against champions
Friday, January 26, 2007
Harbour View..........3
Scarlett 18th (penalty), F Taylor 21st, Wolfe 85th
Waterhouse..........................1
McDonald 41st
Two-time National Premier League champions Harbour View danced to an emphatic 3-1 win over champions Waterhouse in their top-of-the-table clash at Compound on Wednesday.
Harbour View now lead the table with 43 points, followed by Waterhouse on 40, after both teams entered the game as joint leaders, with Waterhouse ahead on goal difference.
First-half goals from Robert Scarlett (18th, penalty) and Fabian Taylor (21st) and a second-half strike from Kemeel Wolfe gave the 'Stars from the East' a royal send-off to Trinidad & Tobago where they will compete in the Caribbean Football Union Club Championship semi-final round.
Marco McDonald scored the consolation goal for the defending champions in the 41st.
Harbour View's 18-member squad left the island yesterday for Trinidad, where they are scheduled to face W-Connection of Trinidad in the second semi-final at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium today.
In the first game, Baltimore Sportif of Haiti face Financial San Juan Jabloteh of Trinidad. The two winners will contest Sunday's final for a spot in the CONCACAF Club Championship.
"I am happy with the victory. Our plan was that the first 10, 15 minutes would have been high intensity and we did that for 30 minutes and that proved very effective as we got the two early goals," said Lenworth Hyde, coach of Harbour View.
Barrington Gaynor of Waterhouse said: "The level of composure which the team came into the game with let us down. We were totally out of sync, especially in the first half.
The loss may have put a damper on the team, but Waterhouse is a believing team and this means that we can rise to the occasion again."
Harbour View showed from the kick-off that they were a much better team as they stamped their superiority with scintillating, authoritative play.
Waterhouse were without eight of their best players, and lacked the quality to hold Harbour View at bay.
The first real threat came in the eighth minute when defender Roger Rodney was called for handled ball outside the penalty area. Scarlett drove the spot kick inches over the crossbar.
Nine minutes later, Rodney sliced Kavin Bryan to the ground from a strong tackle in the area after the persistent striker eluded the Waterhouse defence. Scarlett handed his team the lead from the penalty spot.
Harbour View continued to pile on the pressure and four minutes later, Taylor, from a solo effort, jostled his way into the six-yard area and slammed a scorching left-footer past a diving Richard McCallum.
Approaching the break, Irvino English lashed an accurate 35-yard screamer which was heading straight at the Harbour View goal. However, an alert goalkeeper Dwayne Miller acrobatically fisted it for a corner.
Waterhouse pulled a goal back when Jermaine Taylor committed a foul on Roberto Fletcher 25 yards out and from the resulting free-kick, McDonald threw his team a lifeline with a back-headed goal from Demar Phillips' spot-kick.
To add to injury, McCallum spilled a swirling chip from Oneil Smith to the feet of Wolfe, who sealed the issue for Harbour View.
TEAMS
Harbour View - Dwayne Miller, Oneil Smith, Christopher Harvey, Jermaine Taylor, Robert Scarlett, Richard Edwards, Donald Stewart, Lovel Palmer (Kevin King 73rd), Kemeel Wolfe (Loxley Thomas 86th), Fabian Taylor (Kemar Petrekin 77th), Kavin Bryan.
Subs not used: M Barrett, C Waugh, G Simpson, N Dodd
Waterhouse - Richard McCallum, Roger Rodney, Ryan Douglas, Irvino English, Andre Hickling, Marco McDonald, Kirk Ramsay, Desmond Breakenridge, Demar Phillips, Roberto Fletcher (Robert Robinson 73rd), Brian Wollaston (Oneil Thomas 66th).
Subs not used: G Brown, K Fletcher, J Romando, R Robinson, K Gordon
Referee: Howard Stennett
Assistants: Stephen Brown, Malachai Brown
Fourth Official: Dave Peterkin
Match Commissary: Trevor Purboo