Dunbeholden hand H View anniversary defeat

Harbour View's woeful form continued with their fourth loss in a row as they were defeated 3-0 by Dunbeholden yesterday in the Wray and Nephew-sponsored Jamaica Premier League (JPL).

Goals from Dwight Merrick, Carlington Blackwood and Rojay Smith were enough to sink the Stars of the East in a match that marked their 50th anniversary.

Dunbeholden's coach, Lenworth Hyde, praised his players and said the match showed they are adapting to his coaching philosophy.

"Excellent. I think we played well for most parts of the game. We didn't start how we'd like to, and that is an area we'd need to fix, but gradually we got into the game and started to play the football I like - to keep possession of the ball," Hyde said.

BETTER CHANCES

Dunbeholden had the better opportunities early, and Nicholas Nelson had a golden chance in the opening five minutes of the game. A turnover from the Harbour View defence saw the forward having a clear shot on goal, but Nelson lost his footing before the strike.

Merrick opened the scoring in the 34th minute when he took down a loose ball just outside the box and sneaked a low drive to the near post that whistled past the diving goalkeeper.

Blackwood scored the game's second goal in the 72nd minute as his first-time strike to the near post capped a brilliant pass from Donovan Segree.

DEFENSIVE ERROR

Smith sealed the win late in the game after a defensive error from goalkeeper Glenroy Samuel, who was caught in possession, allowing Smith to fire home from close range unopposed.

Harbour View coach Ludlow Bernard believes the night's result was another disastrous outing.

"As you can see today, at least two of our principal persons had to depart the pitch. That would have affected us. I'm not here to call names, but we just performed badly today," Bernard lamented.

The win sees Dunbeholden moving up to sixth in the league's points standing, on 33, passing Waterhouse, who sit seventh on 30.

Harbour View have dropped to 11th in the league with 19 points, tied with Humble Lion in 12th, who have a worse goal difference.

In the day's earlier match at the same venue, Cavalier and Humble Lion drew 1-1 draw.