Harbour View miss out on Champions Cup berth

HARBOUR VIEW have ceded a slot in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup to Moca FC of the Dominican Republic after playing to a 1-1 draw with them in the second leg of the 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup Third-Place series on Tuesday night at the Estadio Cibao in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.

The result earned Moca a 3-2 victory on aggregate and passage to Round One of the 2024 Champions Cup. It is their first Champions Cup qualification.

There was not much in the way of chances in the first 45 minutes. It was not until toward the end of the half that the best looks at goal arrived, and they were both for Moca.

Victor Sanchez was in on goal but saw his effort denied by Harbour View custodian Anthony Bennett. That was quickly followed by a swerving, dipping shot from Sebastian Valencia that sliced wide of net.

Harbour View started carving out some chances for themselves in the second half, and Andre Fagan could only shake his head in disbelief after he put a header over the crossbar when left unmarked on a corner kick in the 56th minute.

Harbour View kept coming, and their efforts bore fruit in the 64th when a free kick was played deep into the Moca FC area and Ajuma Johnson came around the back end to volley in a shot to make it 1-0.

Still requiring another goal due to Moca owning the away goal tiebreaker, Harbour View needed to keep pushing, but Moca had other ideas and quickly evened the contest when a ball from Sebastian Valencia went through a sea of players and into goal in the 68th.

Harbour View doubled down on attack and Moca FC goalkeeper Odalis Baez was summoned to make a big save in the 78th from Ajeanie Talbott.

Harbour View’s last push came in the waning seconds and a mad scramble in front of goal saw a shot ring off the crossbar before eventually being cleared, sealing the result for Moca.

concacaf.com