Waterhouse, Arnett Gardens advance to semis

aterhouse booked their place in the Wray and Nephew-sponsored Jamaica Premier League (JPL) semi-finals after a 3-1 aggregate win over Tivoli Gardens in last night’s quarter-final encounter at Sabina Park.

Waterhouse blanked Tivoli Gardens 2-0 after a tense 1-1 draw in the first leg last week and they were joined in the semi-finals by Arnett Gardens, who beat Portmore United 1-0 at the same venue earlier, to progress 2-1 on aggregate.

Goals from Javane Bryan and Andre Fletcher booked a spot in the next round for Waterhouse, with Fabian Reid scoring a 90th-minute winner for Arnett.

Waterhouse head coach Marcel Gayle was pleased with their performance.

“A wonderful performance so I have to say. Congrats and kudos to the guys. Tivoli threw everything at us today, and we stood firm,” Gayle said. “The first objective was not to concede a goal, so this week was total concentration and kudos to the boys, they followed the instruction to the tee.”

Tivoli suffered a heavy setback as Nickalia Fuller was forced off the field through injury in the third minute of play.

Waterhouse scored in the 14th minute as Bryan was gifted an opportunity after poor defending from Tivoli.

Just like he did in the first leg, Bryan got the ball rolling after a defensive error inside the box gave the Waterhouse talisman an easy finish, bagging his 16th goal of the campaign, which pulled him level with Justin Dunn of Tivoli as the league’s leading goalscorer.

Tivoli upped the ante in the first half, but a string of golden opportunities went a begging as Kemar Foster proved up to the task between the sticks.

Waterhouse doubled their lead just before the halftime whistle when a series of quick passes on the counter found Fletcher free inside the box. With the goal at his mercy, Fletcher made no mistake and slotted home to the right of the goalkeeper.

Tivoli’s head coach Jerome Waite said the early injury to Fuller greatly impacted their mentality throughout the game.

“It was a factor. Once the team saw the injury, it affected how they felt within themselves. The fact these players have been working together for a whole season, they would have felt it for the youngster,” Waite said.

The win means Waterhouse will face defending champions Mount Pleasant in the semi-finals while Arnett face Cavalier.

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com

https://jamaica-star.com/article/sports/20240430/waterhouse-arnett-gardens-advance-semis