Waterhouse's Bradford sets sights on Golden Boot
Published:Saturday | September 11, 2021 | 12:13 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer -
Waterhouse's improved form in recent weeks has coincided with attacker Shaquille Bradford becoming a regular starter and finding his goalscoring touch in the Jamaica Premier League for the Drewsland-based club.
The former Camperdown ace has netted four goals in the past three matches for the league leaders, who have also scored nine times over the period.
And although he did not have the Golden Boot on his mind earlier in the season, the 20-year-old now sees himself as a solid candidate for the award after scoring the lone goal in Waterhouse's 1-0 win over Portmore. The goal knocked the defending champions out of contention for the play-offs. "At first I wasn't thinking about it but now I am on five goals, so I am basically in the race for it. I was missing some simple chances earlier in the season, so I went back and saw that it was a problem and I went back in training and fixed that. Now I am ready to challenge for the Golden Boot. I just have to keep focused," he said.
Waterhouse are also virtual regular season champions after the win. To deny them that honour third-place Tivoli Gardens will need to beat Molynes United by eight clear goals today.
However, Bradford said the team's recent good form is a result of some hard work in training.
"We have worked hard for this and we are going to need the rest. But the main thing is to look forward to who we have next and focus on getting the job done, as everything starts on the training field," he said.
"It would also be a great feeling to be the regular season champions as well," he added.
Meanwhile, Portmore coach Garnet Lawrence said their elimination will have serious repercussions and implications for the club's development.
"The result didn't favour us and we are out of the top six. But we look forward to next season. We just have to continue to press on, as we have our preseason coming up soon," he pointed out.
Lawrence, who was handed the head coaching job after Ricardo Gardner departed the island recently, said he expects to lead the team into the new season.
"I definitely expect to be here and we will be working very hard to get things right," he added.
The St Catherine-based Portmore ended the day in eighth place with 13 points, two points and two places outside the play-off spots.
Needing to win to keep their hopes alive, Portmore failed to break down Waterhouse in the first half despite having the better of play. They fell behind in the 61st minute when Bradford held off his marker and calmly slotted past goalkeeper Kemar Foster.
Waterhouse dominated the second half and looked the more likely to score again but they were reduced to 10 men in time added when Ricardo Thomas picked up his second booking of the match.