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)