Peart, Taylor not bothered by opening day RSPL stalemate ...looking for three points on match day two
AFTER a delayed start to the season due to the playing of the new CONCACAF Nations League which set back the start of the Red Stripe Premier League by a week and then another postponement due to a waterlogged field due to extreme weather conditions, the UWI FC and Harbour View FC were finally able to get their season under way on Thursday.
The teams played out an exciting 2-2 draw at the UWI Bowl to start the season with a point each which is more than can be said for five other teams in the league, including champions Portmore United, who all lost on match day one.
Despite his team letting it slip with just three minutes to go for him to claim a famous win in his first official game as head coach of the UWI FC, Andrew Peart credited his players for a spirited performance against Harbour View.
“In the end you are a little bit disappointed to concede with three minutes to go, but I guess the performance overall was pretty good, especially the response to going behind in the second half. Five to 10 minutes after that we not only equalised but we found a goal to go ahead and the game after that was about us controlling the spaces that we wanted to play in and try and see out the game.
“In the end that didn’t materialise because we conceded and we are a little bit disappointed in terms of conceding goals because you want to win your games, but overall we credit the guys for a good performance,” said a philosophical Peart.
Harbour View’s assistant coach Fabian Taylor, who was the man on the touchline while head coach Ricardo Gardner served a one-match touchline ban, was also fairly pleased with the result.
“I thought we played well in the first half and we did a lot of good stuff that we practised in training during the pre-season, but second half, somehow we lost it and gave up two soft goals, but the guys fought back very well and we will take a point.
“We have a pretty new squad, we have at least 12 new players so I am pretty pleased with the first outing and it’s just work in progress,” he said.
Peart did not mind the few extra days before the UWI campaign started to prepare for Harbour View, but is aware that even the best laid plans are sometimes difficult to implement based on the strategy that may be employed by the opponents.
“We got more time to actually prepare but one of the challenges we find is that you might see a team play this week and they play a certain way, and then they come to play you and it’s a totally different system. So some of the times that’s what beats you, you can’t really properly plan for how the opponents are going to play.”
Taylor, the former Reggae Boy, promised that his team would be sticking to their strategy despite the quality of the opposition.
“We have a system at Harbour View and we stick to the system whoever we play and for Portmore it is no different. We are going to take the Portmore game as serious as we take any other game, so I think we are going to give a good account of ourselves in the next game,” he said.
Up next for UWI are the wounded Humble Lion, who lost 1-2 away to Arnett Gardens on Sunday. Peart is wary of the challenge that this encounter will bring when his team travels to Effortville this weekend.
“We travel away to Humble Lion (and) that is a team that’s coming off a loss, that’s a team who have made some acquisitions of some seasoned professional players, so we know it won’t be an easy game.
“There are no easy games in the premier league. It might sound clichéd but that’s just the case. So far in the league we haven’t had a team to play where we can say that was an easy game. We have to now regroup and come for the challenge.”
Harbour View will host a Portmore United team that is still smarting from a loss to a stoppage-time goal against new boys Mount Pleasant Academy, and Taylor expects a tough game in the first Monday Night game at the “Compound” this term.
“We have a very tough encounter against Portmore United on Monday night and the games against Portmore United at Harbour View are very tough games.
“We are looking forward to that game and getting all three points at home,” he stated.
After match day one Cavalier FC and Tivoli Gardens are locked at the top of the table on goal difference, while Arnett Gardens, Mount Pleasant Academy and Waterhouse are all level on three points with the top two.