PATIENT Harbour View continue to consolidate their surge towards the top of the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) with a well timed 1-0 win against the luckless Cavalier SC at the Compound on Sunday.

With two wins and a draw from their last three matches Harbour View have moved to 29 points and have elbowed Waterhouse out of third position by one on the points’ standing.

After playing second fiddle to visitors Cavalier for the duration of the game Harbour View won a free kick just outside the area of their opponents and Nicholas Beckett made good of the spot kick to register the only goal of the match in minute 75.

It was one of two really good looks Harbour View had at their opponents’ goal up to that point in the game, as Cavalier were always faster to the ball and they stifled any real chance of the hosts scoring. Defenders and goalkeeper Roybert Clarke were in the right places at the right time to consolidate.

Some questionable refereeing from Kevin Morrison could have aided the victory of Harbor View, but the visitors created enough clear-cut opportunities to put the game to bed before Harbour View had any real chance to score.

The most glaring was Girvan Brown’s buffoonery in the first half when for no explicable reason he booted wide of the mark of an unprotected goal from eight yards with goalkeeper Michaud Barrett at the far side of his goal.

When the teams spun around Cavalier continued from where they left off in the first half, and so did the buffoonery.

And after surviving two or three corner kicks coupled with poor finishing from Cavalier, Harbour View made a run through and won the free kick left of the Cavalier goal that produced the goal.

And despite the early struggle “it was not a victory that was unexpected” said Harbour View’s coach Andrew Hines.

“There is no easy team in Premier League. Any team can win at any given time so you must expect teams to come running at you: so we were just prepared for this and, when the opportunity presented itself, we struck,” Hines quipped.

Cavalier’s president Rudolph Speid was not happy with the result, but he took solace in the team’s performance. “I am at a loss for words as to how we lost. We got chances throughout the game that we could have easily scored three of those chances in a game we dominated. However, putting that final ball between the uprights and into the net is where we fell down. It is something that has been plaguing us for the whole season, but we could take heart from the fact that we are not playing badly and it is just a matter of time before we begin to reap the benefit of our efforts,” Speid said.

Teams

Harbour View – Michaud Barrett, Rosario Harriot (Damarley Oliver 51st), Christopher Harvey, Daminan Anderson (Kevaughn Frater 65th), Ranique Muir (Kimani Birmingham 70th), Dejanne Isaacs, Nicholas Beckett, John-Ross Edwards, Joel Senior, Kemar Lawrence, Jermie Lynch

Subs not used: Levor Williams, Damian McNeish, Savian Maxwell, Anthony Marks

Booked: None

Cavalier — Roybert Clarke, Liston James, Girvan Brown, Jeffrey Grant, Dwayne Holmes, Jerome Smith (Davion Roberts 82nd), Claudius Blackburn (Nicholas Hamilton 84th), Donovan Alvaranga (Kirk Fletcher 70th) Donovan McCurdy, Kimoy Simpson, Alex Bennett

Subs not used: Jermaine Ricketts, Norman Bailey, Raheem Ellis, Shomoyo Morgan

Booked: Brown (56th), Fletcher (78th), Simpson (90th+1)

Referee: Kevin Morrison

Assistant Referees: Oyinco McTaggart, Damian Williams

Fourth Official: Leon Brown

Match Commissary: Garfield McDonald