W’house advance to semis in CFU Club Championships

Rafiek Thomas' brace carried Waterhouse to a 3-0 win over Don Bosco of Haiti in their final Group A Concacaf Caribbean Club championship game at the Anthony Spaulding Sport Complex last night.

The result means Waterhouse win the group and advance to the semi-final stage of the competition.

Waterhouse topped the group with four points ahead of Ciboa of the Dominica Republic on two points, while Don Bosco was last in the three- team tournament with one point.

Waterhouse coach Marcel Gayle, who took the decision to start the veteran Thomas over leading striker Colorado Murray, said the striker showed him some good signs in the first match against Ciboa and he was not surprised he bagged a double on the night.

"In the last game, he showed signs and it was a matter of time before he got on the scoresheet.

"He has been doing well in training, hence his performance tonight (yesterday)," he said.

Waterhouse started much better than they did against Ciboa FC last Wednesday and they had a couple of good opportunities before the 35- year-old Thomas headed them into the lead in the 17th minute.

The Drewsland-based club continued to dominate and they were rewarded with a second goal when Stephen Williams thumped a left-footed shot past Alan Jerome in goal for Don Bosco in the 37th minute.

Came out strong

The Haitians nearly pulled one back before the break but good work from Akeem Chambers in goal kept them at bay.

Don Bosco came out strong after the interval and created some good opening but the well organised Waterhouse defence held firm.

After weathering the storm, Waterhouse added a third in the 66th minute after Tremaine Stewart, who missed the first game through suspension, stole possession from a defender and slipped a well-weighted pass to Thomas, who curled a sweet shot into the top corner of the near post from 18 yards.

Waterhouse had other chances to extend their lead and in the end it was a comfortable win for the Marcel Gayle coached team.

Gayle said they came for the win and set out to attack from the opening whistle.

"We watched them on Friday and saw some faults we wanted to exploit and I thought we executed well," he said.