By LeVaughn Flynn, Staff ReporterVILLAGE UNITED, with two goals from Ian McAnuff in as many minutes, crept up on Harbour View like a thief in the night and handed the east Kingston team a stunning 3-2 defeat in Wray and Nephew National Premier League (NPL) action at the Harbour View Mini Stadium yesterday.
Harbour View went to sleep in the final nine minutes of play and conceded three goals. Preceding McAnuff's double (88th and 90th minutes) was Gregory Simpson's strike in the 81st minute which started what became a goal spree and three points for Village, which increased their points to 33 in third position in the overall standings.
They are joint second on 14 points in the second round standings.
Harbour View, which has been in a rat race with Waterhouse for first spot and possibly a second End-of-Round final appearance, remained in second spot (overall standings) with 34 points. However, they failed to add to their second round tally of 10.
Having a 2-0 lead courtesy of Luton Shelton (37th) and Craig Stewart (75th), Harbour View seemed to be in a comfort zone and was welcoming victory with open arms. But their pre-determined karma changed course when their captain Jermaine Hue was taken out of the game around the 80th minute.
Harbour View's coach, Donovan 'DV' Hayles, while giving credit to Village, said that his team has no excuse for conceding three goals in such a short span.
"With 10 minutes to go and you're up 2-0, no matter which player comes off the field we must be able to maintain the level of concentration," he stated.
"We got about two to three chances after going up 2-0 to put the game beyond the reach of Village and put them out of the game but we didn't do that. I've always said to them that a 2-0 lead can easily be 2-2," he pointed out.
On the other hand, Village United's coach, Lloyd Williams, said that the 0-2 deficit his team faced in the final minutes brought out the best in his team.
"When we were down 2-0 I think that is where the real, true spirit of the fight of the team came in and that is what we have been telling them, that it is not going to be over until the last whistle."
Williams also added that this game gave him more confidence in his reserve players as most of them got the chance to play because of disciplinary action to his senior players.
"The reserve players really came out and showed me that they have been learning a lot in training - discipline wise and mentally - especially against a tough team such as Harbour View," he said.
"I always look forward to playing them (Harbour View) because of how technical they play. They always let me have to dig deep in to my resources and it's really a test for me and I like challenges in life," he asserted.
