Keith Kelly ... struck Harbour View's second goal against Rae Town. - File

HARBOUR VIEW assistant coach Donovan Hayles is adamant that a second-half scare in the team's 4-2 win against lowly Major League opponents Rae Town at the Harbour View mini stadium on Wednesday night would not affect the side's outlook heading into the Western Union KSAFA Jackie Bell semi-final round.

On Wednesday night, the 'Stars of the East', playing a team two divisions below them, were coasting along with a 2-0 advantage but hit a major snag when Rae Town pulled level midway through the second half. It was not until extra time that the stunned Premier League outfit managed to restore its advantage over a tiring opponent.

"I think the whole approach wasn't the right one. Based on the division that they play in, we might have underestimated them a little bit," Hayles said.

"I am a little bit more disappointed in our performance than worried about the next round but I believe that we will definitely lift our standard of play in the next round," he said.

It took the heroics of substitute Andre Fagan and a Mitchily Waul penalty, for insurance, to lift the stunned Premier League team into the semi-final round after letting a 2-0 half-time lead slip through their fingers.

Left back Kevin Wooley had unlocked the Rae Town backline with a penetrative run into the area before firing past goalkeeper Andrew Martin from a tight angle. Keith Kelly then doubled the team's lead with just a minute left to go in the first half, killing a Waul pass from just inside the touch line with his chest before showing superb technique to blast a sweetly struck volley past Martin and into the back of the net.

Lacked incisiveness

Although the Major League team was by no means starved for possession, it seemed to lack incisiveness in the final third and was hard-pressed to create legitimate goal-scoring opportunities, but the second half would prove to be an entirely different affair.

Substitute James Durrant used his pace to cut through the Harbour View backline before cracking a well-struck effort past custodian Michaud Barrett and high into the roof of the net from just outside the area in the 58th minute. A sloppy pass out of the hosts' backline was intercepted by Donald Foster and tucked away past an exposed Barrett in the 68th minute.

However, in the extra period, Fagan sprinted on to a Richard Edwards pass before breaking into the area to fire past Martin in the 99th minute, before a tiring Rae Town were forced to cut the legs from under a bolting Waul, who was clean through on goal. The striker had little problem converting in the 113th minute from the spot.

"I am very proud of them, I don't think I could have asked for more," said Rae Town coach Donovan Evans.

"In the end, the Premier League team got the better of us but it was a commendable performance," he said.