‘Gutsy’ 10-man Waterhouse beat Mount Pleasant

It was pure joy at Waterhouse Stadium yesterday as they chalked up back-to-back home wins following a workmanlike 2-0 triumph over second-place Mount Pleasant in their Jamaica Premier League (JPL) encounter.

The high-riding Mount Pleasant were expected to be a stern test for Waterhouse, however, it was the host who looked more purposeful in the opening exchanges, which eventually bore fruit.

A quick counter-attack by the Drewsland-based Waterhouse had them taking the lead in the seventh minute, when Shaqueil Bradford was on hand to stab home a rebound, following a snap save from goalkeeper Daniel Russell, after Andre Fletcher had unleashed a volleyed stinger from the top of the area.

That goal further ignited the Waterhouse players and fans as 'Firehouse' kept probing for a second.

Their momentum would, however, be slowed as Fletcher was sent packing after receiving a red card in the 35th minute for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Waterhouse then retreated to be on the defensive as Mount Pleasant, with the man advantage, started to string plays together.

Mount Pleasant should have equalised 10 minutes into the second half after striker Atapharoy Bygrave found himself unmarked inside the Waterhouse area. His header from a Sue-Lae McCalla cross sailed over the crossbar to the relief of the home fans.

Mount Pleasant presented Waterhouse with a glorious opportunity to put the contest to bed in the 82nd when central defender Ladale Richie fouled substitute Devroy Grey in the area.

Damion Binns stepped up to convert and seal the win for Waterhouse to the amazement of assistant coach Damion Gordon.

"We have to give the players all the applause due to the work they exemplified. It was a gutsy performance from the team, and with the spirit high, we were expecting a good result," Gordon said.

Losing coach Theodore Whitmore said they failed to create the chances to get a positive result.

"We didn't apply ourselves this afternoon to get a point or even win the game. We didn't create enough scoring opportunities even when they went down to 10 men, hence the result," Whitmore said.