A stuttering start to the Jamaica Premier League has seen former champions Harbour View FC pick up just two points from their first two games.

A shortened season with just one round and then play-offs means that every point earned or dropped will matter and could be decisive later on.

Harbour View Head Coach Ludlow Bernard has reiterated the need for more tactical nous from his players in order to get better results from the games.

“It has nothing to do with physical conditioning, I think it has to do with our tactical application. We have to be very tactically aware. When we see what the Cavalier team or any other team for that matter is doing, we need to make the adjustments quickly.

“Sometimes you find that although we may have a plan, we probably have to adjust to their plan and get them out of their comfort zone and then we can revert to our plan,” he said.

“Second half, unlike the first half, against Waterhouse, we saw where we upped the tempo. I called for some adjustments during the course of the game against the Cavalier team and it was no forthcoming and they were dominating us,” Bernard added.

The half-time adjustments proved to be just what the team needed, said Bernard after they were able to claw their way back into the contest and secure the equaliser to first match hero Oquassa Chong.

“When we made the adjustment at the half-time break and with young Robinson coming in and being able to press a little further up the pitch, then we probably started to see the Cavalier team starting to falter under some amount of pressure. We got some momentum and then eventually we got a goal.”

Bernard blames a break in play for a loss of momentum and the inability to kill off the game.

“I think probably in the break involving one of their players, probably gave them back some life because we were on top of them,” he said.

After ringing the changes in an effort to claim all three points, an injury at the back meant more adjustments which severely hampered the push for the win.

“We had to make an adjustment at the back of the pitch with (Lovel) Palmer out and making another midfield adjustment, so I think we lost some sort of cohesion inside of the middle of the park.

“Missing Lovel for that latter part robbed us of that thrust that we really wanted to make forward. We had to take one of our players that we had placed on the pitch to play an attacking role to come back and play centre back for the last seven or eight minutes,” said Bernard.

The veteran coach hailed the defensive solidity of his team however and believes it’s high time that the forwards start delivering for the club and thinks things will certainly get better.

“My team continues to be very strong defensively and heavily dependent on that, so I think it’s full time now that we probably start scoring more than one goal.

“I think it can get better, I think once we can come up with the right combinations and get the functions right, I think we can go forward well.”

Harbour View will need to start turning draws into wins, or get cut adrift in a short, frenzied, premier league season.

— Dwayne Richards