Simms fires Arnett into final

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

The youngest player on the field, 17-year-old Javoni Simms, accounted for the lone strike that carried Arnett Gardens to a 1-0 win over Waterhouse in their Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA)/Claro Jackie Bell knockout semi-final encounter, at the Harbour View Mini Stadium yesterday.

The Charlie Smith High School student netted in the 15th minute and then Arnett Gardens protected their slender advantage to march into the final, where they will meet either Harbour View who defeated Boys' Town 2-1 in the second semi-final last night at the same venue.

Jermaine Anderson came close to opening the scoring for Waterhouse in the sixth minute when his 22-yard effort grazed the roof of Arnett's goal.

The Junglists would make their first effort on goal count, however, after Arnett's captain Kirk Ramsay played a 30-yard pass to Simms. The latter took the pass well, before skilfully beating a defender with a 'pile', before coolly slotting past Waterhouse's keeper, Richard McCallum, with his weaker right foot.

Very pleased

Simms was very pleased with his contribution and described how he went about scoring the all-important goal.

"I am happy, very happy," a beaming Simms shared. "When the ball was played through to me I looked up to see if I was offside and then I saw the keeper coming and because I am a left footer I wondered if I could do it but I said 'let me try it' and it worked out," he explained.

Waterhouse almost equalised in the 68th minute after a quickly taken free kick was played through to Peter Keyes in the area by Weston Forrest. Keyes turned and got off a snapshot, but Arnett's custodian, Maurice Evans, pulled off a save.

Another chance

Waterhouse got another chance to pull level in the 79th minute when substitute Jason Watson found the ball at his feet on the edge of the area, but despite being under no pressure, he place his effort just wide.

Arnett's coach, Paul 'Tegat' Davis, attributed the win to team work.

"I think we really worked for each other today," Davis stated. "The team was together and they fought for a purpose and got the goal," he added.

Marcel Gayle, assistant coach of Waterhouse, blamed his team's lapse in defence and the number of missed opportunities for the loss.

"Just one mistake in the back and that cost us the game," Gayle exclaimed.

He added: "If you don't take your chances you can't win matches and we didn't take our chances today."