Atapharoy Bygrave’s lone strike proved enough to secure Waterhouse a third win on the trot and fourth of the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL) campaign as they edged Harbour View FC 1-0 in a keenly contested encounter at Waterhouse Mini Stadium in Drewsland on Monday.

Bygrave’s 54th minute goal, his fifth of the season, propelled Waterhouse into third position on 12 points, the same as second-placed Portmore United, who boast a slightly better goal difference. Montego Bay United are now in pole position on 13 points.

Harbour View slipped to eight on seven points.

Interestingly, Bygrave, the former Dunbeholden FC and Mount Pleasant FA striker, has accounted for all five goals registered by Waterhouse so far this season, a feat that has left assistant coach Damion Gordon pleased.

“We are pleased; we are overall pleased with the three points. In terms of how we were compact today (Monday) and how we played defensively, it was also a plus for us. But we had some chances that we could have put away the game early, but that’s just how it is sometimes. We asked for the support from the community, and we got that, and you can see that the guys fed off that energy, and I am pretty impressed with our transition, so overall this team is growing and growing as a unit,” Gordon said in a post-game interview.

Despite the wet conditions, both teams were purposeful at the start, as they showed good attacking intent in the early exchanges.

Waterhouse gradually gained the ascendancy with a couple half chances from a melee in the 10th minute, but Harbour View's defenders stood firm at that point.

That started a decent passage of play for Waterhouse, who again breached Harbour View’s defensive line in the 15th minute when Shemar Boothe’s long pass from the middle of the park found an unmarked Shamarie Dallas, but the striker sporting the number 63 jersey failed to bring the ball under control to cause any problems.

Four minutes later, Martin Davis found space deep inside Harbour View’s 18-yard box for a right-footed drive that was easily collected by a well-positioned Romario Palma in goal for the ‘Stars of the East’.

Though Waterhouse were more threatening in the attacking third, it was Harbour View that had the best opportunity of the half to break the deadlock in the 26th minute when Demar Rose dispossessed a defender and went on the break.

However, instead of attempting to beat the advancing Kemar Foster in a one-on-one situation, Rose chose to play a pass across the 18-yard box for David Reid, whose right-footer was deflected over the crossbar. 

Waterhouse again came to life on the resumption and had an early opportunity five minutes in, but Dallas wildly fired his effort high and wide despite having time and space deep in the danger area.

The hosts inevitably found the go-ahead goal on a well-worked transitional play in the 54th minute. It started with goalkeeper Foster finding Leonardo Jibbison, who played a delightful pass in the danger area to Bygrave, who slipped two defenders and drove a left-footer past Palma. 

Harbour View continued to play their game and threatened a response in the 71st when Rose’s weighted cross fell nicely for Luca Kung, whose effort was deflected over.

Still, Waterhouse had the final say and should have doubled their lead, but Palma came up big to deny substitute Andre Fletcher on the break, while Nicholas Hamilton’s attempt on the rebound was charged down by a recovering defender in time added.

Harbour View’s Head coach, Jason Henry, was left disappointed with the loss.

“When you play against teams like Waterhouse and you get chances, you have to find a way to take one and throughout the run of play, Waterhouse got one against the run of play and that’s what hurt us. So it is just painful at times to know that we put the work in to win games and we create the chances and don’t take them,” Henry said.

Matchweek six results

Molynes United 0, Arnett Gardens 3

Humble Lion 0, Montego Bay United 0

Portmore United 2, Chapelton Maroons 1

Vere United 3, Dunbeholden 0

Cavalier 2, Mount Pleasant 2

Tivoli Gardens 1, Racing United 0

Waterhouse 1, Harbour View 0

Having shaken the first game jitters with a hard-fought 1-0 win over promoted Racing United, Waterhouse's Head coach, Marcel Gayle, is expecting his team to improve significantly throughout the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL) season.

In fact, Gayle pointed out that consistently securing clean sheets is high on the agenda for their title run this season as they are benchmarking their performance against last season’s campaign, where they lost to Mount Pleasant in the semi-finals.

Though they dominated proceedings for the most parts, Waterhouse did not have things their own way, as they survived a late surge from their St Catherine opponents to secure the win courtesy of Atapharoy Bygrave’s all-important 52nd-minute strike at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Monday.

In all honesty, Waterhouse should have won by a wider margin, but they failed to please where it mattered most—in the final third—as Bygrave squandered a number of chances, though Caryle Holmes came up big in goal for Racing United on a few of those occasions.

Still, Gayle took heart from his team’s performance, which he views as a solid platform to build on for the season, which will be contested over three rounds, back up from two rounds last season.

“We deserved to win the game; hats off to Racing United’s goalkeeper for keeping the scoreline to what it was, but nevertheless, I thought we played well. We bossed the game; we gave up a little in the middle of the park, but it’s a work in progress... it’s the first game, so now that the cobwebs are out the way, we know what we are about and will build from here,” Gayle said in a post-game interview.

“So it’s a positive start; it’s the first game, and we wanted everything to go right, which it didn't, but we see some areas that we can improve in and areas that we have improved on so far. As you can see, we got a clean sheet, and that is benchmark for us this season,” he added.

Waterhouse's Kemar Foster saves Rodave Murray's penalty.

Racing United started brightly with Rodave Murray firing the first warning shot, which interestingly was the only shot they got off in the first half.

This, as Waterhouse quickly found their rhythm and asserted their authority on the contest with fluent ball movements and some tidy build-ups—in patches—that unlocked Racing United’s defence on a number of occasions. However, the finishing touch eluded them.

Bygrave was at the centre of most of those chances, the best two of the lot coming in the latter stages of the first half. In the 40th, Bygrave applied a decent first touch from Leonardo Jibbison’s cross, but his effort was equally well-saved by Holmes.

The former Dunbeholden and Mount Pleasant striker was again in shooting range from Denardo Thomas’ pass in the 45+5, but his right-footer was again kept out by Holmes diving full stretch to his right to keep the score goalless at the break.

However, Waterhouse maintained the momentum on the resumption and inevitably broke the deadlock seven minutes in when Andre Smith's attempt was deflected into Bygrave's path and the striker made no mistake from close range on that occasion.

Racing United should have had their first top-flight goal in the 66th when Ranaldo Biggs played a delightful ball inside for Giovanni Cunningham, who was felled by Waterhouse's custodian Kemar Foster. However, Murray's tame effort was kept out by the custodian, who redeemed himself.

That was the start of a decent passage of play for Racing United, who found another opening in the 77th courtesy of Javaughn Cole, who couldn't keep his effort down.

In the 86th, substitute Diamond Clarke's freekick driven along the ground was kept out by Foster, who got down well to his left.

Two minutes later, Mikyle Williams drove a stinging right-footer that caught Foster going the wrong way, but the effort came back off the left upright.

Racing continued to probe for a share of the spoils, which they should have had, had Deandre Johnson kept his right-footed effort at close range down, with literally the final kick of the game.

Though disappointed with the outcome, Racing’s assistant coach Paul Walker took heart from his team’s display.

“I think we played well, but I think if we had approached the game better in the first half, we could have had a better result. So I am disappointed with the loss because we also need to put away our chances when we get them but we just have to go back to drawing board and hope for the best next game,” Walker noted.

Matchweek one results

Vere Phoenix United 1, Montego Bay United 4

Portmore United 0, Mount Pleasant 2

Arnett Gardens 3, Dunbeholden 0

Harbour View 1, Chapelton Maroons 2

Waterhouse 1, Racing United 0

Humble Lion vs Cavalier (postponed)

Tivoli Gardens vs Molynes United (postponed)

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