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Posted - Mar 18 2005 : 08:32:16 AM
Football
BY SEAN A WILLIAMS Observer staff reporter
Friday, March 18, 2005
DC United head coach Peter Nowak had high praise for Harbour View, calling them "a very tough team" following the USMLS champions' come-from-behind 2-1 win in the return-leg of their CONCACAF Champions' Cup quarter-final match at the mini-stadium in east Kingston on Wednesday night.
STEWART... headed Harbour View into a first-half lead
DC United...............2
Walker (74th), Moreno (77th)
Harbour View.................1
Donald Stewart (45th)
"Harbour View made it very difficult for us as it was a very tough game. Harbour View is a very tough team and anybody who is going to play Harbour View (in the future) will be in a lot of trouble," Nowak said.
The win on Wednesday carries DC United to the semi-final of the tournament on a 4-2 aggregate, having also won the first leg in the USA, 2-1, last week in Baltimore.
Nowak deplored his team's first half performance which saw the host team taking a 1-0 lead through veteran Donald Stewart's header in the 45th minute to level the tie.
"We didn't do so well in the first-half as our positioning wasn't so good. Harbour View set the tempo in the first half and scored... and as an experienced team we can't afford that to happen," he told reporters.
"I think we began to play soccer more in the second half and to open the way and that's why we got the goals," Nowak added.
DC United returned in the second half to score two quick goals through substitute Kamil Walker (74th) and skipper Jaime Moreno (77th) to put the tie beyond the spirited Harbour View.
Although the 'Stars-of-the-East's' lights have dimmed in this campaign, coach Donovan Hayles is hailing his charges for a job well done.
"I must say that I'm very satisfied with the performance of the team. We... showed quality and class. We did not go all the way, but I'm proud of their achievement and we showed that we're good and can compete at the highest level," he said. "I'm sure that Jamaica is proud of us," he added.
Like Nowak, Hayles agreed that the first half belonged to his team, but rued the lapse in concentration in the second period that eventually led to their conceding two goals.
When Harbour View took the lead, there was the feeling that they could pull off an upset and advance to the semi-final of the Confederation's most prestigious club tournament.
But it was clear for all to see that although the gap between both teams was not that wide in terms of the spirit of competition, DC United were clearly superior when it came to tactical discipline and their aptitude to think the game. With six minutes gone, DC threatened when Benjamin Olsen drilled a low shot goalward, but national goalkeeper Leighton Murray blocked with lunging feet.
Fifteen minutes on, Oslen was at the trigger again, volleying powerfully from the edge of the goal area, but Murray went high to guide over the crossbar.
Harbour View, for a spell, were chasing what seemed an invisible ball as DC United kept possession with a slick passing routine.
But the National Premier League first-round champions were not to be outdone and had their fair share of scoring opportunities. In the 27th minute, the ephemeral Jermaine Hue released Jomo Gordon, and with a clear path to goal, anxiously scooped into the night sky.
Ten minutes later, defender Christopher Harvey found himself in the goal area and without taking time to look at the target, made a hasty shot that went wide.
With one minute of time-added indicated to be played by Trinidad & Tobago referee Neal Brizzan, Harbour View struck.
From a curling freekick from the left side by Robert Scarlett after Gordon was pulled down on the edge of the 18-yard box, Stewart charged in to head past goalie Nicholas Rimaldo, whose daring hand could not keep out the ball.
The American side roared back into the game when Moreno's curling freekick found the head of Walker, who slipped between a group of napping Harbour View defenders to score.
And shortly afterwards, Moreno, an outstanding midfielder, calmly slotted wide of Murray from 17 yards after Christian Gomez had outwitted the Harbour View blackline with an enterprising run down the right side.
Harbour View - Leighton Murray, Christopher Harvey, Jermaine Taylor, Damion Stewart, William Richards (Marcelino Blackburn 81st), Robert Scarlett, Donald Stewart (Akeem Priestley 81st), Lovel Palmer, Jermaine Hue, Luton Shelton and Jomo Gordon (63rd) McCreath .
Booked: Scarlett (29th), Hue (73rd)
Subs not used: R Thompson, C Waugh, S Fraser, C Stewart
DC United - Nicholas Rimaldo, Brandon Prideaux, Nathan Van Sicklen (Stephen Guppy 66th), Christian Gomez (Clyde Simms 81st), Michael Petke, Benjamin Olsen, Brian Carroll, Joshua Gros, Brian Namoff, Alecko Eskandarian (Jamil Walker 46th) and Jaime Moreno.
Booked: Olsen (48th), Moreno (91st)
Subs not used: T Perkins, D Stokes, F Adu, S Quaransa
Referee: Neal Brizzan (Trinidad)
Assistants: Anthony Garwood, Ricardo Morgan (Jamaica)
Fourth Official: Courtney Campbell (Jamaica)
Match Commissary: Chet Greene (Antigua)
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