Waterhouse FC and Montego Bay United FC played to a disappointing 0-0 result in an aggressive opening third-round Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) game, which saw seven cards issued and Waterhouse reduced to 10 players from a red-card incident, at Drewsland on Sunday.

The result left Waterhouse still struggling to lift themselves from the foot of the RSPL standing on 21 points, and Montego Bay United desperate to get their flagging campaign back into serious contention at the top half of the standing on 42 points in third place. Arnett Gardens FC lead the standing on 43 points with Portmore United FC second also on 43.

Montego Bay came by skipper Dwayne Ambusely closest to scoring when a powerfully struck shot from the top of the 18-yard box cannoned off the underside of the crossbar and rebounded harmlessly into play during an attack on the Waterhouse goal in the opening minutes of the second half. Some 12 minutes later, the Waterhouse goalkeeper Akeem Chambers was called upon to save another goalbound shot to keep his team competitive.

Soon after this the mesmerising Jermaine Woozencroft came in for some harsh treatment on the far side, the aftermath of which central defender Theo Brown was red-carded for the incident by referee Kevin Morrison in the 65th minute of play.

Following the flare up, referee Morrison issued another five cards to keep a tight lid on things, with three of those cautions going to Montego Bay United and two to Waterhouse as the tempo of play increased. With a man short, Montego Bay increased their pace to keep the pressure on their hosts and created a few healthy-looking chances to score, but nothing came of them as Waterhouse defended with equal gusto.

Paul ‘Tegat’ Davis, now back in charge of Montego Bay United, said his main task is to get his team fit and begin to score goals. “I am among some great talent and my job is to enhance it.”

Waterhouse have not done as well as new Coach Paul Young had anticipated and he was noticeably disappointed with the result. “I am disappointed because we went down to 10 men. I believe that, with both teams at equal strength we had an even chance of coming away with a better result than we did. With a man short we showed resilience and never gave up.

“We have a few youngsters in the system and we are not doing the simple things as well as we should, and that is the reason why we are struggling to win games. Some simple things we are not doing as well as we ought to. We are rushing the game, we are not patient, we are not supporting each other, and we are not talking when the need arises. A lot of little things we need to fix. We have the quality to do it, but it is just to get it done on the day,” Young postulated.

Teams: Waterhouse FC – Akeem Chambers, Hughan Gray, Kymani Campbell, Theo Brown (ejected 65th), Rohan Amos, Weston Forrest, Romario Campbell, Nicholas Nelson (DeAndre Brown 46th), Kemar Beckford (Carlos Wright 67th), Devon Hodges (Kevin Lamey 80th), Kenroy Howell

Subs not used: George Brown, Paul Young Jnr, Sean Coleman, Andre Leslie

Booked: Brown (red card 65th), Forrest (71st), Amos (74th)

Montego Bay United FC – Jacomeno Barrett, Ladale Richie, John Barrett, Orlando McBayne, Kemar Drake (Cory Hylton 80th), Keniel Kirlew, Dwayne Ambusley, Ronaldo Rodney, Jermaine Woozencroft, Owayne Gordon, Leslie St Fleur

Subs not used: Romaine Bowers, Cordell Simpson, Nicodie Haughton, Johann Weatherly, Kashief Brown, Romario Clarke

Booked: Richie (45th+2), Woozencroft (70th), Rodney (83rd), Hylton (87th)

Referee: Kevin Morrison

Assistant Referees: Stacy-Ann Grayson, Lloyd Reader

Fourth Official: Odette Hamilton

Match Commissioner: Ewan Scott