DESPITE losing most of his individual battles throughout, defender Oshane Staple proved most influential for Harbour View when it mattered most, scoring a late equaliser to earn them a share of the points in a 1-1 stalemate with Arnett Gardens during a lukewarm Jamaica Premier League (JPL) encounter at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Saturday.

Staple, a right full back who was taken to task by the menacing Renaldo Cephas, popped up in the knick of time with a 90+5 goal that rescued Harbour View from the jaws of defeat, after Cephas’s 75th-minute strike positioned Arnett Gardens for all three points.

With the point both teams — boasting an almost identical record of one win, one loss and two draws — inched up to five points each with Arnett Gardens in fourth and Harbour View in fifth.

Meanwhile, the early contest between eighth-place Vere United (three points) and 10th-place Tivoli Gardens (two points) was postponed to a date to be announced. It is unclear what led to the postponement but it is understood that the organisers are set to meet with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) on Monday before issuing a release detailing the cause.

The clash between Arnett Gardens and Harbour View promised much, especially with both teams coming off fairly decent performances with contrasting results.

However, while Harbour View were listless for most of the encounter, Arnett Gardens played well in patches and had a few good looks at goal in the goalless first half.

The “Junglists” suffered an early setback as they were forced to pull frontman Fabian Reid in the 10th minute after the 36-year-old went down with a hamstring injury.

Damari Deacon, who was Reid’s replacement, should have put them ahead with his very first touch but somehow muffed his header from Cephas’s weighted cross.

Shortly after, Cephas got away from Staple and drove a right-footed effort along the turf that almost eluded Harbour View’s custodian Amal Knight through his legs.

Arnett Gardens were again ruing what could have been on the resumption as a defensive error on the hour mark opened the door for Kimani Arbouine to unleash a stinging right-footed drive that crashed into the underside of the crossbar.

Paul “Tegat” Davis’s side eventually broke the deadlock 15 minutes later when a cheeky flick from Arbouine sent Cephas on his way to dismiss Staple and rifle a right-footer past Knight from an angle.

As the clock wound down and Arnett Gardens looked seemingly set to pocket the points, Staple found himself unmarked in an attacking thrust and Shamari Dyer’s perfectly weighted pass from the back was set up nicely for him to expertly head past William Price in goal for Arnett Gardens.

Teams: Arnett Gardens — William Price, Earl Simpson, Gerald Neil, Chavany Willis, Kemoy Slowley, Marlon Martin, Ajuma Johnson (Renaldo Wright 84th), Romeo Guthrie (Shande James 84th), Fabian Reid (Damari Deacon 12th, Steve Clarke 61st), Renaldo Cephas, Kimani Arbouine

Subs not Used: Maximus Davis, Shemar Boothe, Jonoy Cunningham

Booked: Neil (25th), Willis (64th)

Harbour View – Amal Knight, Casseam Priestly, Odorland Harding, Shamari Dyer, Ryan Wellington, Oshane Staple, Garth Stewart (Lennox Russell 60th), Timar Lewis (Tarick Ximinies 36th), Trey Bennett (Tyrese Williams 60th), Trayvone Reid, Tevin Scott (Shawn Daley 76th)

Subs not used: Anthony Bennett, Shian Hanson, Gavin Burton, Jay Jameison, Shavon McDonald

Booked: Scott (39th), Dyer (68th), Staple (90+3)

Referee: Derron Davy

Assistant referees: Melvin Reid, Princess Brown

Fourth Official: Kasa Plummer

Match Commissary: Garfield McDonald