Draw puts Waterford on cusp of round 2

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Last year's beaten finalists Waterford High inched closer to securing a spot in the second round of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Gatorade/Digicel Manning Cup schoolboy football competition, after playing to a 0-0 draw with hosts Denham Town at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex yesterday.

The draw lifted Waterford to second in Group B with 16 points, nine behind leaders and early qualifiers Hydel. Denham Town are third in the group on 14 points, followed by Tivoli Gardens (13), while Campion College and Papine have three points each. All the teams in the group have one game remaining.

Still needs improvement

"I am not satisfied with the performance of the team, but I am satisfied with the result," said Michael Williams, coach of the Waterford team which ended with 10 players, as Rajo Robinson was sent off on the stroke of half-time for dangerous play.

"Playing away from home and getting a point is good for us because it keeps us two points in front of Denham Town," he said.

Waterford will oppose Campion in the final match on Saturday, and Williams is confident his team can achieve the desired result to take them through to the next phase.

"We have Campion in our last game at home, and we just need to get a point from that game to take us through, and I am confident that we can get that point," Williams said.

Williams' opposite number, Ivan Clarke, was very disappointed after watching his team squandered a number of clear-cut chances in the first half.

"This is not a good result for us because we needed three points going into our last match against Hydel on Saturday, and that didn't happen for us," said Clarke. "It now means that we will have to be depending on other teams to give us a result, and this is not good for us."

Clarke added: "My team is hampered by what happened, but we still have to go out and play the last match and ensure that we win it."