Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
HARBOUR VIEW'S coach Donovan Hayles credits the seven-point gap they have opened at the top of the Wray and Nephew National Premier League (NPL) to "excellent work ethic among staff and players", this following a 1-0 victory over second placed Tivoli Gardens at the Harbour View Mini Stadium on Sunday night.
"It's not a one-man band, it's not about me as the coach or any of the players, we have a real strong coaching staff that are always on the ball and they keep the team in a very honest way in terms of working very hard," he remarked.
Prior to the start of the season, many would not have picked the Stars of the East to be in this position as they had lost several of their key players to off-season transfers.
"We definitely worked hard in the off-season to get things off and running from day one," he commented.
"Not to take anything away from them but last year the players depended more on their individual ability. This year we're getting far more work and more of a total team concept," he said.
With a game to spare in the first round, Harbour View have already qualified for the first End-of-Round Final, this ahead of Arnett Gardens, Portmore United, Tivoli Gardens and Waterhouse who all still have a shot at the second place spot.
Harbour View have 24 points, followed by Arnett 17, Portmore, Tivoli and Waterhouse who are all locked on 16, then Village United on 14.
On Sunday it was young Kemar Petrekin who mined the goal for the league leaders in the 56th minute. He sprinted down the left flank on to a well-measured through ball, cut inside his defender and then managed to curl the ball around Tivoli custodian Edsel Scott from a very acute angle.
Petrekin, the club's top scorer for the last two seasons at the Under-21 level, was scoring for the first time in the NPL.
ROBUST CHALLENGES
In a game characterised by very robust challenges in the middle of the pitch, Tivoli Gardens may feel unlucky to not have come away with at least a point.
They had several opportunities to do so, but between stern and at times desperate Harbour View defending, and poor finishing on their part, the all-important equaliser consistently eluded them.
For Tivoli coach Glendon "Admiral" Bailey, the result was a disappointing one.
"We wanted to put some distance between us and Arnett Gardens. We knew that even if we won we would not have taken the number one spot away from Harbour View but we needed to bring them closer to us," he explained.
"I think we deserved at least a draw and on a different day if a bit of luck was on our side we might have got one," he remarked.
Now a point behind Arnett Garden's with just one game to go, Bailey is not worried about the distinct possibility of missing out on the End-of-Round Final.
"It's still a long season and we will get better from here on. It's always our objective to be in every finals, but since I have been here I don't think we have made any End-of-Round finals, we are a second half team," he remarked.
"Due to the change of the league format we don't want to chase from too far behind, but we'll definitely be improving as the season goes along," he pointed out.
GOALSHEET
Harbour Veiw 1
Kemar Petrekin 56th
Tivoli Gardens 0
