Daraine Luton, Freelance Writer
SHELTON
WATCHING DANCEHALL superstar Buju Banton handing over 30 gold medals and a trophy to hosts Harbour View for being Caribbean champions was more entertaining than the 90 minutes of football Harbour View and Reno displayed in Wednesday night's Wray and Nephew National Premier League encounter.
It was certainly not one for the spectators. In fact, counting a jar of pimentos or even strolling in the park with the dogs would have offered much more entertainment than the tie which saw the Stars of the East prevailing 1-0 on a Lovel Palmer 12th-minute goal.
Unlike the customary situation where players use the ball to do the work, both teams on Wednesday, especially Harbour View, were guilty of allowing the ball to be their boss. As a result, the passing, ball control, dribbling and shooting skills displayed were not much better than teams playing in corner leagues across the country.
Harbour View played without their most influential player in Jermaine Hue and were forced to end the game with 10 men after stand-in captain Luton Shelton was given his marching orders in the 12th minute by referee Hughill Thompson for using foul and abusive language. To compound Harbour View's bad night, substitute Akeem Priestley hit an 81st-minute penalty straight at Aaron Lawrence, muffing a golden opportunity to colour his team's ugly win.
Reno, on the other hand, looked a fairly ordinary team. Unlike Harbour View though, they strung a few more sensible passes together but they seldom forced Leighton Murray to make a save.
POOR SHOW
Harbour View's coach, Donovan Hayles, described his team's showing as "poor". He said that it was not a case of his team underestimating the opposition and thereby lacking the motivation to play them but that his guys "were not thinking the football".
"I am very disappointed with the way we played. We have no excuse for playing the way we did," said Hayles who also spoke about his yearning for the $1 million bonus for topping the league.
"I am happy for the three points nonetheless. Winning the $1 million is important to us but more importantly, we have to think about being champions," Hayles said.
Meanwhile, Carl Palmer, Reno's coach said that "the goal was the only difference between the teams".
His side played with only one substitute on the bench, pretty much a repeat of Sunday's game where he had only two available substitutes in the game against Tivoli. He is, however, adamant that it is not a sign of mutiny in the Reno camp.
"I don't know why the players never turned up but I am almost certain that it has something to do with a lack of communication. We only learnt yesterday (Tuesday) that we had a game today and that may be a reason for it," Palmer explained.
