HV YOUNG TURKS, ARNETT FACE OFF - Bernard hopes Harbour View youth brigade will stop Arnett

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February 04, 2022

Photo

Tivoli’s Horation Morgan (left) vies for the ball with Harbour View’s Casseam Priestley during the Jamaica Premier League football encounter at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Tuesday. Harbour View won 2-1 and their coach, Ludlow Bernard, is hoping his youthful brigade will continue their successful drive when they tackle Arnett Gardens in JPL action tomorrow. Story on page 20.

Trivante Stewart (left) from Molynes United and Kevin Graham (right) from Vere United are involved in an aerial battle for the ball during the Jamaica Premier League football match at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centrer of Excellence last Tuesday.

Harbour View (HV) head coach, Ludlow Bernard, says that he believes his youth movement has what it takes to make themselves serious Jamaica Premier League title challengers.

They will seek to prove their credentials this early in the season when they face Arnett Gardens tomorrow at 3:15 p.m. at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.

After three tries, the 'Stars of the East' managed to get their first win of the season, beating Tivoli Gardens 2-1 on Tuesday, finally benefiting from the bit of fortune that Bernard said had eluded them in their first two games of the season.

Harbour View recorded a 1-0 win over Arnett in the teams' last meeting, in September 2021.

With his continued thrust in the youth movement that he is leading, Bernard says that Tuesday's win can be the catalyst for them to put on a serious title charge this year.

"I think that the squad is sufficiently deep that we can go for it and challenge (for the title) very seriously. It is not going to be easy because it is dominated by a lot of young players," Bernard said. "But I think the senior leaders is what is going to carry us through, and what I am looking to do is plug the defence unit and make it as strong and airtight as possible."

It will be a unit that hopes to stop leaking goals, compared to their truncated 2021 10-game campaign as they conceded 11 goals but still managed to qualify for the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Arnett, under head coach Paul Davis, is on a two-game unbeaten run, with a win against Portmore United and a draw against Humble Lion.

It is the way they lost the lead that left a sour taste in the mouths of the Arnett players against Humble Lion, and assistant coach Eric Rademakers said that it is a reflection of the high standards that the coaches and the players want to achieve this year.

"I think with that comes a certain expectation, not just set by us as coaches, but players, to realise the potential that is there. And if you have four points after three games, you are not happy," said Rademakers.

Meanwhile, Tivoli Gardens will face Vere United in the first game of the double-header at 1 p.m. Although Tivoli vanquished the Clarendon-based outfit in their play-off series last season, Tivoli's head coach Phillip Williams said that they have to remain resolute against the Donovan Duckie-coached Vere.

"Yes, we have learnt some things from last season but, in terms of our approach, we have to focus on our positives and make adjustments as the game goes on, because they would be much fitter and had more time to prepare," Williams said.

Portmore United will face league leaders Waterhouse on Sunday at 1 p.m, while Mount Pleasant will play Montego Bay United at 3:15 p.m.