Sun | May 12, 2024

Waterhouse ready for Concacaf challenge

Published:Thursday | November 5, 2020 | 12:14 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
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Waterhouse’s Stephen Williams (third form left) celebrates a goal against Real Hope with teammates (from left) Andre Fletcher, Kendroy Howell, and Andre Leslie during the 2019 FlLOW Concacaf Caribbean Club Championhsip at Stadium East on May 14, 2019.
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Waterhouse’s Stephen Williams (third form left) celebrates a goal against Real Hope with teammates (from left) Andre Fletcher, Kendroy Howell, and Andre Leslie during the 2019 FlLOW Concacaf Caribbean Club Championhsip at Stadium East on May 14, 2019.
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Waterhouse head coach Marcel Gayle will have his squad intact when the Drewsland-based club entertains Arcahaie of Haiti in their Concacaf League Round-of-16 game at Stadium East this evening, starting at 6:00 p.m.

Although Waterhouse had completed several rounds of COVID-19 tests prior to their final assessment yesterday, Gayle was still cautious, especially after Arcahaie’s previous opponents, Verdes of Belize, were eliminated after a large portion of their squad was diagnosed with the virus.

However, the results have been pleasing for Gayle, and he said the team would go out and give their all despite being short on match practice.

“Yes, so far, we are good (in terms of players availability). We don’t have any concerns at the moment. We want to stay positive, stay focused, stick to the task, stay with the play and see if we can complete the job,” Gayle told The Gleaner.

“It’s been a while we have been playing successful football, and we have the opportunity to go out and express our talent and expose some young talent in the process. So most definitely, we won’t be holding anything back,” he continued.

TRAINING RHYTHM

Although preparation has not been ideal, Gayle said they discovered a rhythm from training, and he expects a solid display from his side despite the challenges expected from the Haitians.

“We just want to go out and play football. We would have loved to see them play the Belize team. Unfortunately, that game didn’t go ahead. We saw them the last time against Portmore, and we will use that game to give us an idea. I still don’t think that’s enough, but we will just have to make the adjustments as the game goes on,” added Gayle.

“Tactically, we are ready, mentally and physically as well, so we just want to go out and play good football. We are confident that we are equally capable of winning this encounter, and we are looking forward to a good performance,” said Gayle.

Waterhouse finished top of their three-team group in the Caribbean Club Championship, while Arcahaie, on three points, ended second to Atletico Pantoja (six points) of the Dominican Republic in the other group.