We've to give thanks - Duckie

Anthony Minott, Gleaner Writer

Head coach of Waterhouse FC, Donovan Duckie, believes that his team's 2-0 victory over Sporting Central Academy has put them back in contention in the battle for supremacy in the Red Stripe Premier League.

"We have to give thanks (for tonight's win). We have had a bad run due to internal problems (at the club), we had psychological problems since our game against Tivoli, earlier in the season," Duckie admitted after the win at the Waterhouse Stadium on Sunday night."But I spoke to them (players) about our commitment, pride and integrity, and we played well against Village in a 0-0 draw last Wednesday and then we played well tonight (Sunday)."

Two late goals by Adrian King (81st) and substitute Kemal Malcolm (85th) set up Waterhouse's important result.

The win pushed Waterhouse - who were scoring their first win in five games - to 15 points, the same as Sporting Central Academy. Sporting have dropped six points in the space of days; Sunday on the field and the other three in the boardroom for their match against Boys' Town, in which the Clarendon team used an ineligible player.

The first goal was controversial as an alert King challenged Sporting's goalie Sanchez Lloyd for the ball. The keeper failed to grasp the ball and it fell conveniently to King, who buried the offering from inside the six-yard box. Both Sporting's goalie Lloyd and his defender, instead of challenging King for the ball, stopped playing to appeal for an alleged infringement on the Sporting custodian. The Sporting bench was furious about the non-call by the referee.

Comeback

While the first goal brought its fair share of criticism, the second goal was clear-cut. Malcolm led three Waterhouse attackers inside Sporting's penalty area as they benefited from a wicked counter-attack from the left side.

Sporting Central played with 10 men from the 42nd minute when Camaal Reid was shown a straight red card for serious foul play, after a tackle on Vincent Earle.

Vassel Reynolds, coach of Sporting Central, thought playing short for the entire second half diminished their chances.

"I thought from we lost Camaal Reid due to a red card from the first half that really set us back. We had to do some adjustments, and we needed to pass the ball around some more being a man short, but we didn't do that well and Waterhouse kept coming at us."