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Jamaica Premier League minnows Vere Phoenix squandered a glorious opportunity to ease themselves out of the relegation zone, this after settling for a 1-1 draw at home against Harbour View in their football encounter at the Wembley Centre of Excellence on Thursday.

The Lenworth Hyde-coached Vere Phoenix now sit on 18 points in 13th position, with Harbour View claiming their 20th point of the campaign and sit just atop the relegation group.

The fixture began cagey with both sides failing to put together any real meaningful attack in the first half hour of the contest.

With the half looming, Vere Phoenix suddenly burst into action, as captain Matthew Woo Ling unleashed a long-range diagonal pass which found Denzel McKenzie on the left flank.

McKenzie then whipped in a low cross for Kevaun Atkinson to latch on and fire past Anthony Bennett in the Harbour View goal on minute 42.

That goal enraged the Harbour View coaching staff, who rang in a number of changes in the second half.

That move seemed to ignite the Harbour View team who would get their equaliser in the 57th minute, as forward Colorado Murray outpaced Vere defender Michael Graham to slam home from close range.

It was all Harbour View from then, as the tiring Vere defensive unit, minus Robino Gordon, tried to keep the Stars of the East off the scoresheet for a second time.

FEW CLOSE SHAVES

A few close shaves from substitute Trevaun Reid was all Harbour View could conjure, as the game ended in a 1-1 draw which was disappointing for coach Hyde.

"We tried our best today, but one thing for sure is that defensively we've been giving up goals, and it came back to hurt us today again," he assessed.

"We had a comfortable lead and we gave up a soft goal which is unacceptable. But the work continues."

Harbour View assistant coach, Damion Stewart, lamented a missed opportunity to seal a crucial win.

"We started a little slowly, but I think we dominated the game, and I think it's two points dropped more than a point gained. We created a lot of chances, but sometimes the decision making was wrong," he reasoned.

"If you realise they crossed one ball, one goal. We had many chances to keep us safe and we missed a few, so that shows that we need to have more quality in front of goal."

6-2 WIN

Meanwhile, leaders Mount Pleasant Football Academy, with a double from Shaquille Bradford, thumped Molynes United 6-2 at the Waterhouse Mini Stadium.

Molynes ended the game with 10 players after Tyrique Wilson's expulsion for a second yellow card at the 80th minute.

Molynes led through Rashawn Livingston's 15th-minute strike. But Bradford drew Mount Pleasant level (28th) and goals from Travolta Bailey (35th) and Nicholas Nelson (38th) established a two-goal cushion.

Peter McGregor brought Molynes back into the game at 2-3 with a 42nd-minute penalty.

However, they could not keep up with Mount Pleasant in the second half and goals from Bradford (54th), Sue Lae McCalla (77th) and Alex Marshall (88th) sealed a commanding win, that lifted the St Ann team to 55 points. Molynes stayed ninth on 23 points, six above the drop zone in the 14-team league.

Defending champions Cavalier Soccer Club were rescued by Shaquille Stein's last-gasp equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Montego Bay United in the opening game of a doubleheader at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.

Stein scored in added time, 90+2, to cancel out Deverow McKenzie's 34th-minute goal.

Cavalier remain fifth, on 38 points, while MoBay United stayed in the top three, advancing to 45 points.

ANOTHER ENTHRALLING ARNETT FINISH

In the feature game, Arnett Gardens rallied to secure yet another enthralling victory, this time by a 3-2 margin over fierce rivals Waterhouse in a very exciting match.

Atapharoy Bygrave shot Waterhouse into the lead at the 21st minute. But four minutes later, the league's top scorer Warner Brown equalised. Jaheim Thomas then put Arnett Gardens ahead with a goal at the 54th minute. However, Javane Bryan gave Waterhouse a sniff of a point with his 75th-minute goal.

However, there would be one final twist, as substitute Chantomoi Taylor, who entered the game at the 77th, netted 10 minutes later to secure all three points for the home team.

Arnett, which had rallied for an exciting 5-3 win over Tivoli Gardens recently, stayed second, moving to 48 points, while Waterhouse remained in sixth on 34.

sports@gleanerjm.com