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Harbour View clipped Tivoli
Gardens 1-0 in the Digicel Premier League (DPL) top of the table
clash and opened up a four-point lead.
National Under-20 midfielder
Andre Steele scored in the 17th minute as the Stars
of the East avenged their first round defeat to the West
Kingston team.
It was Harbour View’s eighth
away win ‑‑ the most in the league – and their 11th
overall as they widen the gap in what is expected to be a close
battle for the title..
The Donovan Hayles-coached
boys which started the day on top by one point, moved to 39
points, four ahead of Tivoli Gardens which remained in second
spot.
Further up the road at
Collie Smith Drive, Boys’ Town blanked Arnett Gardens 2-0 and
grabbed third spot with 33 points.
Two deflected goals by
George Vernal and Peter Keyes unlocked the Arnett backline and
ensured a comfortable win in the end.
The hard-kicking Vernal saw
his powerful freekick took a wicked deflection before
wrong-footing the goalkeeper in the 32nd minute.
Then Keyes attempted header
hit the shoulder of a defender before lobbing over goalkeeper
Damion Gordon in the 63rd minute.
Boys’ Town with their ninth
win of the season climbed a spot to third, just two behind
champions Tivoli and six behind leader Harbour View.
Arnett, with their third
consecutive loss, dropped a place to ninth with 19 points and
are well within reach of the relegation strugglers.
Player/coach Fabian Davis
must be under intense pressure to keep his job as club
management look to refocus for the New Year.
At Drewsland, the red-hot
Waterhouse edged Portmore United 1-0 to continue their rich vein
of form.
The Geoffrey Maxwell-coached
team have now won a league high seven at home and their 11th
overall in their last 14 games.
They continued to lead the
second round and more importantly, they achieved their highest
placing of fourth on 33 points. It is a remarkable turn-a-round
after losing their first five games of the season.
Top marksman, Kevin Lamey
notched the winner in the 37th minute for his ninth
goal of the season to be second in the Golden Boots race, four
behind Devon Hodges.
For Portmore, the nightmare
continues with their eight loss of the season and from 19 games.
It was also the fifth defeat at home.
Just like coach Davis of
Arnett, coach Linval Dixon remained second favourite to lose his
job after witnessing another goal drought from his team.
With goals hard to come buy,
Portmore’s goal famine remains at 10 goals from 19 games while
conceding 14 times.
The St Catherine-based
Portmore remained in seventh spot on 21 points, 18 behind leader
Harbour View and are virtually out of the title race at the
halfway point.
Meanwhile at the Spanish
Town Prison Oval, the competition’s leading scorer, Hodges
notched his 13th goal firing home a rebound from his
own freekick in the 75th minute as Rivoli defeated St
Georges 2-0.
Valentine Gardner had opened
the scoring in the 49th minute enabling Rivoli to
leapfrogged Arnett into eighth place on 20 points.
St Georges of Portland,
continued to slip since the start of the second round and are
now down to fifth from third with 31 points.
At the Elliston Wakeland
Centre in Trelawny, the visiting Humble Lions scored a crucial
1-0 win over Village United in the relegation battle.
The lanky Kimroy Davis got
the winner in the 90th minute as Humble Lions moved
to 18 points, three ahead of Village and out of the relegation
zone.
The promoted Clarendon team
is only one point behind the struggling Arnett and just three
behind seventh placed Portmore United.
Village United remained in
11th spot of the 12-team league on 15 points and has
it all to do to avoid the drop this season.
At Brancourt, another
Clarendon outfit registered victory as Sporting Central Academy
blanked August Town 2-0.
Oneike Ford grabbed both
goals in the 34th and 80th minutes as
Sporting continued to consolidate sixth spot on 24 points in an
interesting fight for a top six elite place.
They are now three points
ahead of Portmore and seven off St Georges after securing only
their third home win.
August Town under new coach
Paul Young, were brought down back to Earth after their 4-2 win
over Arnett last week.
They remained at the bottom
on 15 points but with the mid table teams not doing too well
either, there is real hope for the rest of the season. |
