Old Harbour dominate Tacius Golding in ‘derby’ clash

OLD HARBOUR High’s coach Dwight Whyte made it clear that he expects his team to get better, despite his side registering a workmanlike 3-1win over Tacius Golding High in Group M action of the ISSA/Digicel daCosta Cup football competition yesterday at the Port Esquivel Sports Complex in St Catherine.

It took a double strike from Rudolph Smith and a lone strike from playmaker Shyjah Orridge to hand Old Harbour all three points after a pesky Tacius Golding unit had kept the tie interesting at 1-1 with 13 minutes to go in the contest.

For Whyte, the early season jitters got the better of his team, which is expected to get better with a few more players being eligible for this weekend’s set of matches.

“We were good in certain areas but it is a work in progress. We had a lot of jitters and we were lacking in confidence since we lost one of our main playmakers,” said Whyte. “We still have seven players who should be cleared by ISSA by Friday, and they will make a difference come the next match.”

Losing coach Marlon Nesbeth of Tacius Golding lamented the lack of defensive discipline for his team’s downfall.

“Apart from the defensive indiscipline, a little tiredness also kicked in towards the end of the match, and that allowed us to give up two easy goals. So we will have to work on our fitness moving forward,” said Nesbeth.

The Group M contest pitted the two Old Harbour-based institutions at the virtually new football venue Port Esquivel, which proved difficult to manoeuvre for the players because of the cricket pitch in the centre of the playing field.

It took all of 56 minutes for the ever-probing Old Harbour offence to break down the Tacius Golding back line, when Smith rose high to head home from close range, following Deshawny Morgan’s cross from the left flank.

After dominating most of the proceedings, the fair-sized Old Harbour fans were then silenced in the 77th minute when Javier Jones lobbed goalkeeper Kristoff Johnson to equalise for Tacius Golding.

The ever-present Smith ensured that the one-all scoreline only lasted three minutes, as it was his persistence inside the box that saw his second bite of the cherry bearing fruit, following his initial blocked shot from inside the area.

It was only fitting that the victory was capped off in time added on by Old Harbour’s inspirational dreadlocked playmaker Orridge, who made it 3-1 with a calm finish from close range.

In the meantime, Denbigh High joined Old Harbour at the top of the Group M standings, following a similar 3-1 win over Central High.