Harbour View look to youth

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

Defending Digicel Premier League champions Harbour View appear to be on course for renewal, and this has left them languishing in fifth position on 21 points after 14 rounds of matches. Tivoli lead the 12-team standings with 29 points.

The Stars of the East, on Wednesday, played to a 0-0 draw with Arnett Gardens at the Anthony Spaulding Complex in a game that saw them start seven under-21 players.

"I am a coach who believes that we must refresh the team, and we must refresh with the players that we have developed," Donovan Hayles, coach of Har-bour View, stated. "We need to replenish in the league and we need to replenish the standard of football in Jamaica," he added.

Though acknowledging that using such a young team could result in his team not success-fully defending their title, Hayles believes the return of a few senior players will see them make their way back to the top of the league.

Hayles said: "This is the risk and chance you take, but you have to be brave. I was brave enough to do it last year and we won the cup with these youngsters. (Richard) Edwards was out today and Jermaine Hue was out, so with those two senior players coming back, I think they can guide these young players back to the top of the table."

In spite of fielding such a youthful team, Harbour View could have left the 'Jungle' with all three points. In the 29th minute Arnett Gardens' goalkeeper, Maurice Evans, pulled off a marvellous save to deny Ronique Muir from point-blank range. In the 57th minute, Muir's good positioning allowed him to effect a comfortable save to another point-blank header, this time from Christopher Harvey.

Pleasing thing

"We are not execu-ting in front of goal, and I think we got three clear headers that we should have put away," Hayles bemoaned. "For me the pleasing thing is that we didn't concede a goal, we have done so in two games, so if we keep on that trend I am sure once the goals come we will start chalking up the three points," he added.

Arnett's coach, Paul 'Tegat' Davis, while praising his players' work rate, disclosed that the aim was to qualify for the second end-of-round final.

"I liked the work rate of the guys. You could see the hunger, something that they didn't have at first," said Davis. "It is a work in progress and we are going to look around to see if we can find some attackers to give these guys a run for their games. Our aim is the mid-season final," he added.