Harbour View, Arnett aim to kick scoring fault

• Portmore, Tivoli, Sporting Central chase 'final' berth

Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sport

SCORING goals has not been Harbour View or Arnett Gardens' forte this season. As a matter of fact, it hasn't been a strong point for any National Premier League team in the previous eight rounds of the 2011-12 campaign.

In 48 games, a measly 88 goals have been scored, an average of 1.83 goals per game.

Multiple champions Harbour View and Arnett Gardens played out the difficulties associated with the problems faced with finishing in a goalless draw at Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Sunday night.

"In the Premier League, it's not going to be easy to walk through any defence, so the work and the creative plays have got to be much better than it is now," was Harbour View's head coach Donovan 'DV' Hayles' assessment of his team at Arnett on Sunday night.

The coach of the home team, Paul 'Tegat' Davis - who for a long time held the national scoring record until Luton Shelton eclipsed it at the Gold Cup earlier this year - approached the situation from a different angle, saying "... we're not taking the chances like how we normally do".

Their task won't get any easier when they face two of the stingiest defences in today's action.

Portmore United, the league leaders, have conceded the second lowest number of goals this season - five - and the fact that they are motivated further at claiming a spot in the first end-of-round final should make seventh-placed Harbour View's night-time task at Ferdie Neita Park more difficult.

Reno are eighth with 10 points and have two factors working in their favour for their clash with Arnett, who lie one spot and a point below. Frome, in recent years, has not been a happy hunting trip for Arnett; and Reno have let in the fewest goals this season - four - one in every two matches.

If there is any consolation for Arnett, it lies in the fact that Reno have only scored once in four tries at Frome - in Sunday's 1-1 tie against Highgate - while the Junglists, for their part, have scored three times on the road while conceding four goals.

Despite the lack of goals, most of the teams have played with a lot of defensive discipline while maintaining a good shape and ball movement with good passing at pace, as was evidenced in the Arnett-Harbour View showdown.

However, in the absence of a team-passing game that effectively pulls apart defences, there needs to be more enterprise and boldness in the attacking third, as too few offensive players appear willing and happy to unleash their dribbling talent at defences, which could lead to a frequency of quality openings for not only victories, but exciting goalscoring margins.

Leon Strickland and hard-running Kirk Ramsey appeared more willing for Arnett on Sunday and that made their team a bit more dangerous, more so in the first half. Those players, along with experienced midfielder Cornel Chin-Sue - who made a difference off the bench - and towering striker Newton Sterling, will lead their charge at Reno.

"I think if we continue and get that intensity, if we score goals, then this team will be hard to beat," said Davis, noting that "we created a lot of chances (against Harbour View), at least we should've taken one. When you score goals you give defenders something to fight for ... and they will fight."

Hayles, whose team loves attacking down the centre, even while it has not reaped any tremendous benefit, says they are going to win the league and need to start taking the maximum off their opponents.

"We need to be getting three points, it's a long time we haven't been getting three points from our games," he bemoaned. "The last third is where we're breaking down.

"I honestly believe we've the quality players who can do it - Andre Steele, Romario Campbell, Lamar Nelson, John-Ross Edwards and Kemeel Wolfe," Hayles added, naming a few of his stars. "What needs to happen is for them to just believe in themselves some more. With more playing time I'm sure it'll come to the fore."

Neither Steele nor their biggest playmaker, Jermaine Hue, was in gear on Sunday, and the latter will almost certainly not suit up today as his injury has not healed sufficiently.

"The good thing is I'm back jogging now. I'm not forcing it; it's a new injury, not one that I've had before, so I'm taking my time," commented Hue.

His team has scored eight goals while conceding six for a plus-two goal difference, but they have only won twice.

Portmore, on the other hand, have scored nine times and conceded five. But the real difference have been the Big Ws, where they have managed to churn out five victories, even as their scoring, like the rest of the teams, remain mediocre in the highly defensive league.

What Portmore's wins and positioning has done is to add belief to a relatively young, but experienced batch with Alanzo Adlam, Tremaine Stewart and Eric Vernan playing influential offensive roles.

"With this bunch of players that I have right now, if they continue to play like how they have been playing then this team can create a lot of damage in the league," admitted Calvin Lewis, Portmore's coach.

With two rounds to follow these fixtures, two other teams are leading the challenge for the end-of-round final slot - second-place Tivoli Gardens, the defending champions, on 16 points; and Sporting Central Academy with 15.

Tivoli, the highest-scoring team with 10 goals, face a tough task at improved Humble Lion, who lie fourth on 12 points and have an outside chance, while Sporting, though playing hosts, also face a difficult foe in Boys' Town, in what should be a very exciting affair.

Both teams possess a fair amount of naturally gifted attacking players to create excitement and many scoring opportunities. And, while finishing is not their forte, if they get it right they could produce a break-out margin quite dissimilar to the goalless stalemate between Arnett and Harbour View on Sunday, as well as the general low-scoring pattern through eight rounds this season.