Waterhouse, Tivoli thrive on the road

Richard Bryan, Gleaner Writer

First-half strikes by Kemar Thomas and Vincent Earl gave Waterhouse a 2-0 win over Sporting Central Academy at Brancourt in Clarendon yesterday and in the process, delivered contrasting starts for the respective new head coaches at the helm, Boris Johnson and Donovan Duckie.

Quite interestingly, both coaches were making a return to the helm after being pulled previously for different reasons.

Johnson looked the far more composed and in charge of Waterhouse - even having time to conduct team prayer and warming down session after the game, before he was prepared to grant an interview.

"We're trying a different approach this season," he told The Gleaner.

"The goal is to get the players to play better as we want to prepare more of them for the market (international transfer)."

Duckie looked increasingly frustrated along the sidelines and had much more to say following a game in which his team had more possession and attacking initiatives.

Waterhouse were never dominant for any sustained period but got value for the way they hustled defensively and the energy with which they countered and delivered when given opportunities to shoot.

Duckie's comment seems to provide the best analysis of his team's play.

"We played offensively in the first half, but defensively we were poor in the second half. I cannot recall any time we committed any fouls in trying to win the ball from them."

It was clear each time the visitors countered down the flanks, Sporting were too slow to defend the crosses inside. From similar moves, Thomas reacted well to robustly get a shot off and beat young goalie André Blake from inside the six-yard, to give Waterhouse the lead in the 28th minute.

Later as the half wore on and Sporting's defensive woes were complicated, Earl was left unattended and hit a grounder from 10 yards to score in the 43rd minute.

Meanwhile, last season's runners-up, Tivoli Gardens, turned back the challenge of Premier League debutants Benfica 3-1 at Drax Hall in St Ann.

Defender Christopher Jackson opened the scoring for the west Kingston-based club in the 15th minute, a lead they maintained up to half-time.

The scoreline was doubled by Keammar Daley, who netted in the 54th minute.

Benfica's worries increased when they lost Ramja Martin in the 80th minute via a red card.

Tivoli Gardens fully capitalised on the one-man advantage to increase their lead to 3-0 in the 87th minute through a goal from Michael Spence.

Tivoli should have scored a fourth in the 89th minute when they were awarded a penalty, but Navion Boyd missed from the spot.

Damion James then scored a consolation goal for Benfica in time added.