Gordon rues complication as Waterhouse drop points
Published:Tuesday | July 27, 2021 | 12:10 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
Waterhouse Club’s assistant coach, Damion Gordon, said that his team’s over complication in their play led to a missed opportunity to take all three points against Tivoli Gardens FC, as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw in their Jamaica Premier League football game at the Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, yesterday.
Andre Fletcher gave Waterhouse the lead in the 62nd minute, thanks to a well-taken low drive into the bottom corner. However, Tivoli Gardens fought back immediately and got their equaliser through Devroy Gray three minutes later.
Waterhouse were coming off their bye-week after starting the season with a win and two draws. Gordon says that despite the length of time to prepare, his team failed to keep their decision-making simple despite getting numerous chances throughout the 90 minutes.
“Overall, our attitude towards the game needs to be addressed. Football can be played in the simplest form, but I doubt that we did that today,” Gordon said. “We over- thought it. We didn’t stick to the plan and that’s why we drew the game.
“Tactically, we were OK,” he added. “I didn’t think we played through the lines as much as we wanted. I didn’t think we had runners that encouraged those passes and I didn’t think we passed the ball through the lines.”
The best chance from the first half came for Waterhouse minutes before the break when Ricardo Thomas’ shot from long range was saved by goalkeeper Nicholas Clarke. Clarke was starting in goal for Tivoli in place of the suspended Davin Watkins and was the only goalkeeper named on Tivoli’s team sheet.
UNCOMFORTABLE
Tivoli’s head coach, Phillip Williams, credited the resilience shown by his players, especially when they made Waterhouse uncomfortable in the second half.
“We knew that Waterhouse is a good team and they would have had the bulk of the possession. They would have put us on the back foot a lot, but mentally we were prepared somewhat. We nullified their play somewhat to the point that they had to change their approach to come down the middle for much of the second half, which played into our hands,” Williams said.
“Going behind and then coming back so quickly shows character of the youngsters and I must lift my hat off to them,” the Tivoli Gardens coach added.
For Waterhouse’s goal, Kenroy Howell’s through pass managed to find Fletcher, who finished his chance well. Gray, who had been threatening throughout the first half - with two soft shots on goal - made his third attempt on target count, guiding his header past Waterhouse goalkeeper Akeem Chambers.
From there both teams had their fair share of chances to get a winner and while Colorado Murray got on the end of a good pass inside the box, but he could not guide his effort into the net.
With the result, Waterhouse remain in sixth place with six points. They are still unbeaten in four games. Tivoli are currently in eighth place with five points.
Waterhouse: Akeem Chambers, Kymani Campbell, Nicholy Finlayson, Kenroy Howell, Ricardo Thomas (Shaquille Bradford 80th), Andre Fletcher (Rafeik Thomas 70th), Ramone Howell (Rohan Beadle 90 +3), Shawn Dewar, Shevon Stewart (Damion Binns 70th ), Denardo Thomas, Colorado Murray
Tivoli Gardens: Nicholas Clarke, Barrington Pryce, Kemar Flemmings, Shavar Campbell, Rodico Wellington, Andre Smith, Devroy Grey, Anthony Nelson (Justin Dunn 90+3), Tommy Lawrence (Rushane Thomas 62nd), Odean Pennycooke, Romaine Bowers