Harbour View's coach Lenworth Hyde

With six games left to go in the season, Harbour View coach Leworth Hyde Sr. is anxious to avoid the pitfall which saw the Stars of the East surrender a 13-point lead and the Wray and Nephew National Premier League title last season.

"It's not over it's going to be a tight race to the line. We have quite a few games to go yet and some of them will be very challenging fixtures," Hyde pointed out, after seeing his team do just enough to secure a share of the points, in a gritty 1-1 draw with Portmore United at the Harbour View Mini Stadium on Wednesday night.

"We will be taking each and every game very seriously, we can't afford to take anyone or anything for granted," he said.

Harbour View who won their first and only premier league title in 1999, found themselves on the back foot following a 48th minute strike by Portmore front man Carlington Smith.

Things looked more slippery on the damp muddy pitch for Harbour View after their usually responsible captain Lovel Palmer was given a red card for elbowing an opponent in the 72nd minute.

However, striker Fabian Taylor, always a threat, ensured that the team who continued to look a menace despite being a man down, drew level when he belted a fierce left-footed volley past Portmore custodian Shawn Sawyers in the 84th minute.

The next couple of fixtures could indeed be a tough run for Harbour View, a battle which will pit them against the bottom half of the table teams eight through 12 before closing outagainst third-placed Reno, who though struggling since the start of the second round could well remain a contender.

Despite being disappointed by Wednesday's draw Linval Dixon, coach of second place Portmore, has vowed to keep the pressure on the leaders.

"We wanted all three points and they were there for the taking, but we just missed too many of our opportunities," he remarked.

"We will try to continue to play well and hope that Harbour View slip up in the next couple of weeks," he added.

- Kwesi Mugisa