Man of the Match Kenroy Howell latched onto a Denardo Thomas’ chipped pass and lobbed the on-rushing goalkeeper Akel Clarke in the 77th minute giving Waterhouse the lead. Substitute Andre Fletcher then sealed the victory firing home a powerful left-footer in stoppage time.

It was a cagey affair between two teams looking to bolster their playoff hopes but it was Waterhouse that secured a most crucial win and jumped from eighth to fifth on 10 points from seven games. Meanwhile, the St Ann-based Mount Pleasant slipped to fourth on 11 points after suffering their second loss of the season from seven games.

It was just Waterhouse’s second win of the season and their first over Mount Pleasant in four matches.

Waterhouse’s assistant coach Damion Gordon had high praises for his team that has re-ignited their playoff hopes. “Statistics only increase your win probability and as I said before, on any given day, the team that applies themselves the best will get the better result,” said Gordon, who now believes his team has what it takes to go all the way following an outstanding tactical display.

“Generally, we are excellent with the ball and we tend to manipulate possession of the ball,” Gordon explained. “But today was not one of those days. It was tactical from our standpoint and it worked out for us.

“The objective at the beginning of the season is to be in the top six. Whether we are fifth or we are first we will take that and then we move forward.”

Meanwhile, Englishman Downes, who replaced Paul Davis as coach recently, tasted defeat for the first time as head coach of Mount Pleasant. He blamed the late sending off of Cardel Benbow in the 88^th minute as the turning point in the game.

“We were in the game until when we had the sending off then that proved too much for us as we had to climb up the hill,” said Downes. “I said before the game that they would be a hard side to beat and that proved to be the case.”