Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Report
Harbour View players celebrate a goal by Jermaine Hue against Tivoli in their Red Stripe Cup Knockout second leg quarter-final match at the Edward Seaga Stadium yesterday. Harbour View won 3-2 (and 4-2 on aggregate) to advance to the semi-finals. - RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
HARBOUR VIEW secured themselves a place in the semi-finals of the Red Stripe Champions Cup Knockout competition after turning back Tivoli Gardens 3-2 to win 4-2 on aggregate in yesterday's thrilling fixture at the Edward Seaga Stadium.
The early action was unsettled as nerves perhaps contributed to the ball spending a lot of the time in the air bobbling from team to team. Harbour View however gradually began to gather their wits and, led by Jermaine Hue's concise midfield passing, began to dissect Tivoli's defence.
The few chances that resulted were not converted, partly due to wayward finishing on Harbour View's behalf and also to fine goalkeeping on the part of Leon Gordon who unfortunately was injured in the second half and had to be replaced by Philmore Crumbie.
Tivoli however, began to gain momentum heading towards halftime and possession of the ball swung sharply in their favour. They, like Harbour View, also failed to convert their attacks into goals rendering the first half a scoreless event.
The second half, however, proved to be a torrid affair, Tivoli picked up right where they left off and began the second half in positive fashion. An immediate through ball released Orane Simpson who quickly turned and fired to goal. His shot was deemed to have hit the hand of the defender and, after consultation with his outside official, the referee pointed to the spot.
Christopher Nicholas made no mistake in calmly slotting the ball to the right of a wrong-footed Ryan Thompson to give Tivoli the lead in the 47th minute.
CONTINUED ONSLAUGHT
Tivoli then continued their onslaught at a frenetic pace with promising runs resulting in fierce shots that missed the Harbour View goal by inches.
Their persistence again paid dividend in the 51st minute when a Steve Green corner saw Nicholas leap high to accurately place the ball past Thompson. If Harbour View were rattled by the goals they did not not show it in their play. As the half progressed, midfielder Hue began to have a telling impact and the game reflected the midfield dominance.
This culminated in a moment of sheer brilliance when Hue, turning with his defender on his back, unleashed a wicked shot from about 30 yards out to confound goalkeeper Crumbie and give Harbour View back a goal in the 60th minute.
Minutes later Tivoli's inability to contain Hue led to him being fouled in a similar position. The resulting text book play saw Hue chip the ball to Lovel Palmer whose lofty cross found an unmarked Damion Stewart who crashed in to pull Harbour View level in the 66th minute.
Tivoli continued to press for the go-ahead goal that would have pulled them level on aggregate. Their hopes were however crushed in the 85th minute when another free kick found Craig Stewart in the box, his resulting pass across the goal found substitute Nicholas McCreath who spun and fired past Crumbie to seal Tivoli's fate.
