MBU fight back to draw with Waterhouse

Montego Bay United (MBU) fought back from being two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw in their Wray and Nephew-sponsored Jamaica Premier League match against Waterhouse at the Montego Bay Sports Complex last night.

In the epic showdown in rainy weather, Waterhouse's Javane Bryan opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, with Renaldo Mitchell increasing their lead in the 60th minute. MBU's Lucas Lima Correa reduced the deficit in the 75th minute before Owayne Gordon equalised in the 83rd minute.

Waterhouse attacked and dominated MBU early in the match, with the deflection by goalkeeper William Ferreira being the best of three efforts during that period.

MBU showed glimpses of matching the energy of their opponents by applying pressure later in the half, but Waterhouse, however, took the lead after they capitalised on sloppy defending by MBU, with Bryan unmarked in the box, heading home.

Waterhouse entered the second half with the same intensity and continued to dominate, dampening the home fans' spirits, which took a further dive when Mitchell headed home from a corner kick.

Disappointed with their players, MBU's fans started booing, and it seemed to have ignited a spark as the hosts applied pressure and eventually pulled a goal back through Correa.

The fans' energy further uplifted the players' energy as MBU took control of the game, with returning player Gordon smashing home the equaliser inside the box.

MBU's coach, Neider Dos Santos, praised his players for not giving up.

"I must compliment the players because they fought for the goals and were able to equalise. It is easy sometimes when you are down two for players to psychologically give up, but we didn't.

"They did their best, and mistakes happen. They played a better first half, and we played a better second half," said Dos Santos.

"First half, we did not play well, we did very badly. Our midfield was very open and not compact enough, exposing the defenders. The formation that we started with was not working, and I changed it in the middle of the first half, but it still didn't work," he added.

Meanwhile, Marcel Gayle, coach of Waterhouse, believes his players lost concentration.

"We lapsed today, and that cost us three points today. Nevertheless, I thought we played well. We had total control, but I am disappointed with the end result. We have to close out games, especially being up 2-0. It is an away game, yes, but we have to close out the game," Gayle stated.

Waterhouse are seventh in the points standing with 20 points from five wins, five draws and five losses, while MBU stand eighth with 19 points from five wins, four draws and six losses.