Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor

Harbour View's Marcelino Blackburn (right) celebrates scoring his team's first goal with Dicoy Williams during their Digicel Premier League match at Drewsland Mini Stadium yesterday. Harbour View won 3-0. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

ONE TEAM took its chances, the other didn't. Harbour View reaped rich rewards as they thrived on their efficiency to register a resounding 3-0 victory on a wet pitch and further dampen the spirits of home team Waterhouse, in their big 10th-round Digicel Premier League match-up at Drewsland Mini Stadium yesterday.

Marcelino Blackburn (20th), Kavin Bryan (60th) and Rafeik Thomas (65th) scored for Harbour View, who stayed atop the 12-team standings with 23 points.

With one round remaining, the victory also placed the Stars of the East in the end-of-first-round final that will be played between the two leading teams.

Good starts

"We have been starting well every season and getting to the end-of-round finals," noted assistant coach Donovan Hayles.

"It's a good feeling. The fact that we have been dominating that situation for years is important. Nevertheless, the points are going to be more important for the league," he said, in reference to the long haul for the championship that includes Sunday's closing fixture, as well as two more 11-game rounds and a fourth with six matches.

It is a long trek, and especially so for Waterhouse whose defensive woes continued with the concession of three goals in their past three matches. They have now conceded 16 in their past six games and 18 overall, one less than second-from-bottom Meadhaven.

"Waterhouse played to expectations but we gave up three soft goals," remarked Hugh 'Bingy' Blair, who stood in as interim head coach following the resignation of Wayne Fairclough last week.

"We got three clear chances to equalise but we never scored," Blair said.

"I'm not worrying because worrying makes no sense. We have to work hard, come back and put the same team on the pitch and work again to get it back together," he said.

They have their defensive task cut out, but if Waterhouse's strike force had finished its chances, the result would have given a clearer indication of the contest.

Quality display

Vincent Earle gave a quality display in midfield that engineered composure and possession for the Drewsland team, as he created quality chances all evening that Brian Wollaston and Kevin Lamey, unchallenged, did not finish from inside the penalty box, especially in a five-minute spell at the start of the second half when the homesters appeared bound to hit the target.

"The game in the first half was good," Harbour View's technical director, Brazilian Waldemar de Oliveira, said. "But we gave a lot of chances in the second half. But what we talked about in the halftime, we did. We came back and scored two more goals.

"We have done a lot of work together. We have one concept, everybody works together. We win together, we lose together, but if we lose, I take responsibility."