Rashedee Clarke (right) of Cavalier getting away from Highgate's Kwesi Campbell during yesterday's Red Stripe Premier League match at the Stadium East field. The game ended 0-0. - Ian Allen

Cavalier's Jeffrey Henry (left) evades a tackle from Highgate's Charles Williams (right) during yesterday's Red Stripe Premier League match at the Stadium East field. The game ended 0-0. Looking on is Highgate's Carlos Barrett. - Ian Allen

Runaway leaders Harbour View continue to stutter towards the Red Stripe Premier League when they were beaten 2-1 by Arnett Gardens at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex last night.

Forward Fabian Reid with a double in the fourth and 66th minutes was responsible for Arnett Gardens' strikes while Roland Dean pulled one back for Harbour View in the 56th minute. It was Harbour View's sixth game without a win, and the first game in six that they were scoring.

Despite their loss, they continue to lead the competition by nine points as their closest rivals, Waterhouse, suffered their second successive 1-0 loss, this time to the relegation battlers Humble Lion.

Harbour View coach Vin Blaine remained unworried despite his team's loss saying that the most that could happen was that their lead would have been reduced to six points if Waterhouse won their game.

"I don't think the pressure is getting to us we are just in a bad patch and need to get out of it. When the players go out there to play they do not think about points they think about winning and we did not win today," Blaine said.

chance of winning

Arnett Gardens' Calvin Lewis was full of praises for his players following the win which kept alive their mathematical chance of winning the league.

"I have to commend the players for the character they showed. They had good fighting spirit and that is where I think we won the game. We won it from inside the heart," said Lewis whose charges were rebounding from a 4-0 loss to Montego Bay United last week.

Meanwhile, Cavalier stayed 10 points clear of Highgate United in the relegation battle as both teams ended in a 0-0 draw at Stadium East playing field.

Cavalier entered the game in eighth position but slipped one place to ninth as Sporting Central jumped ahead of them after a 1-0 win against Tivoli Gardens at Brancourt in Clarendon earlier that day. Cavalier are now on 42 points, while Sporting Central moved to 43 points. Highgate remained in 11th position on 32 points, ahead of relegation bound Savannah.

"Right now, these are the games we need to win. We outplayed them but we were indisciplined in the final third," Highgate's coach Michael Smith told STAR Sports.

"Our next game is supposed to be against Humble Lion. We believe that we can still avoid relegation," he said.

Cavalier's coach David Laylor said his team was still in a battle to avoid relegation. "We wanted to win to make it easier entering the final stage of the competition. However, finishing let us down today. We are still 10 points clear of Highgate, but we are not in a comfort zone as there are five games remaining," Laylor stated.

Other results

Sporting Central 1 Tivoli Gardens 0

Waterhouse 0 Humble Lion 1

Montego Bay United 2 Savannah 1