OSHANE Roberts rescued three points for Waterhouse FC as they defeated Humble Lion with a come-from-behind 2-1 win in the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) first-round final match at Drewsland on Sunday.

Although it was their third win of the round, Waterhouse remain firmly rooted one from the bottom of the standing on 10 points.

Experiencing what can be described as their worst opening round of any season since being promoted to the RSPL in the mid-1990s, Waterhouse had lost seven of the 10 previous games played in the 12-team RSPL. They started badly by falling behind before the match was 10 minutes old from a close- range shot by Wolry Wolfe.

Wanting to end the round on a high against a team that was down on its luck, Humble Lion welcomed the early success and set about reinforcing the early advantage by continuing to press for more success. The early setback added momentum to Waterhouse’s approach and they set about to match and resist the thrust from Wolfe, Linval Lewis, and Andrew Vanzie with

some good defence work

led by skipper Nicholy Finlayson, goalkeeper Richard McCallum and Omar Walcott.

Evan Taylor, meanwhile, was at the heart of the midfield, prompting the attack by moving the ball forward to the opponents’ goal area, and this caused critical concern for the visitors’ defence that was fiercely marshalled by the former Waterhouse defender Hugh Howell. Matters not, Waterhouse were relenting.

Another teasing through pass from the Waterhouse midfield found Gary McIntosh on his way to goal when he was brought down inside the penalty area by Linval Lewis. Taylor converted from the spot to level the score.

As a result of the tackle, McIntosh, who has just recovered from a broken

foot, hobbled off injured six minutes later and was replaced by Kemar Beckford.

Waterhouse returned for the second half pumped up, and nine minutes later right-sided defender Oshane Roberts struck.

Roberts received an errant ball at his feet which he promptly poked past goalkeeper Kadeem Davis.

Waterhouse went on to miss several clear-cut chances to increase the score with Kenroy Howell being the worst offender by failing to strike when the ball was on his right foot. DeAndre Brown, a right-sided player, also missed an open goal with the ball at his left foot.

With Waterhouse’s reluctance to press home their advantage, Humble Lion came close in the dying moments to salvage a point but for some good positional goalkeeping from McCallum.

Teams

Waterhouse FC – Richard McCallum, Nicholy Finlayson, Kemar Seivright, Omar Walcott, Oshane Roberts, Sean Coleman (DeAndre Brown 75th), Evan Taylor, Gary McIntosh (Kemar Beckford 27th), Kenroy Howell, Shamari Dyer, Romario Campbell

Subs not used: Shannon Bartley, Jamoly Powell, Stephorn Brown, Jurian Lewis, Andre Leslie

Booked: Taylor (66th), Brown (90th)

Humble Lion – Kadeem Davis, Ricardo Cousins, Devon Hodges, Hugh Howell, Gregory Lewis (Ajuran Brown 64th), Francois Swaby (Jermaine Christian 64th), Linval Lewis, Fabian Pascoe, Andrew Vanzie, Wolry Wolfe, Leaughn Williams (Kemiel Wolfe 64th)

Subs not used: Sanchez Lloyd, Dwayne Campbell, Kevaughn Isaacs, Kevon Reid

Booked: Lewis (21st), Vanzie (52nd), Howell (90th+4)

Referee: Karl Tyrell

Referee Assistants: Garnet Page, Omar Mills

Fourth Official: Tyrone Robinson

Match Commissioner: Charles Barrett