No excuses! - W’house take full responsibility for crashing out of Concacaf League

Despite the limited preparation for last Thursday's Concacaf League round-of-16 tie against Haitian club Arcahaie FC, Waterhouse FC captain Shawn Lawes did not make any excuses following their 3-1 loss at Stadium East field.

The match was the club's first competitive game since March when the 2019/20 Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) season was suspended and subsequently cancelled because of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, they have only managed to do individual workouts during the pandemic with limited training sessions once approval was given for the match to take place.

Meanwhile, Arcahaie had the luxury of being able to start their domestic season in September, playing eight league games before Thursday's game. And while he acknowledged the difficulty of the assignment given the long lay-off and the limited preparation, Lawes said that Arachaie was the better team on the night.

"It was always an uphill task but no excuses. I think that [Arcahaie] wanted it more," Lawes said in the post-game press conference. "They were first to every ball, first to every second ball and hence that's why the result ended up like that."

ONE STEP CLOSER

Richard Calixte, Wendy Louis Jean scored in the first half and Johnny Piere Paul added another for Arcahaie in the second as they moved one step closer to qualifying for next season's Concacaf Champions League. Kenroy Howell scored the only goal for Waterhouse in the 81st minute, and despite a late push in the closing stages were unable to change the outcome of the contest. Arcahaie will face Canadian Premier League champions Forge FC in the quarterfinals on December 1.

Head coach Marcel Gayle said that the lack of games played a part in the team's performance.

"We didn't have enough games to play. We weren't match sharp. I think that caught us," Gayle said. "But credit to Arcahaie. They did what they had to do."

Waterhouse failed to replicate last year's deep run in the tournament where they made it to the quarterfinals. However, given the extended period without local football, Gayle said that his side showed promise in their official return to competitive football.

"[We showed] positive signs. Hopefully, we are on the move now. We got a taste of what football is like," Gayle said. "We just have to keep our head up and come again."

- D.W.