Cavalier eventually outlasted a resilient 10-man Waterhouse to claim the Jamaica Premier League crown for the first time in 40 years after a penalty shootout win at the Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Saturday.

It was Cavalier who deservedly took the lead, after enterprising play early on, courtesy of a towering 17th-minute header from defender Jamoi Topey.  Waterhouse goalkeeper Zemioy Nash flew off his goal line to collect a high looping corner but failed to make any contact, which left Topey with a free header.

Things went from bad to worse for the Waterhouse squad when captain Nicholai Findlayson received one caution for a poorly time tackle and was then sent from the field of play for showing dissent to the referee, just one minute after going behind.  

To their credit, however, despite being a man down, Waterhouse pressed to get back into the game.  With time running out and one hand on the trophy Cavalier goalkeeper Jaedean White was forced to make back-to-back saves to prevent a fierce shot and header from Colorado Murray from levelling the tie.  He could, however, do nothing to prevent a calmly and assuredly placed penalty Damion Binns, which got Waterhouse back on level terms with the final kick of the ball, after a Cavalier defender was deemed to have handled the ball during a last-ditch Waterhouse barrage on goal.

With neither team able to break the deadlock in extra time, the game headed to a shootout.  Shaquille Bradford, Shevon Stewart, Andre Leslie and Ricardo Thomas scored for Waterhouse, while Richard King, Jamoi Topey, Melvin Doxilly, Marlando Maxwell and Jamar Purcell scored to give Cavalier a final 5-4 advantage.

In the third-place play-off, Tivoli Gardens triumphed over Mount Pleasant also via another penalty shootout.

Waterhouse and Cavalier secured spots in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) finals after semi-final wins over Mount Pleasant and Tivoli Garden at the Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Wednesday.

The victories were earned in contrasting fashion, with Waterhouse coming from behind to secure a 1-1 draw with Mount Pleasant, for a 2-1 aggregate win, and Cavalier playing to a 0-0 draw with Tivoli to add to a 1-0 first-leg win.

Needing to overcome an early deficit, Mount Pleasant charged back into the tie early on the back of a fiercely struck free-kick from in-form forward Jourdaine Fletcher who found the back of the net on the 6^th minute.

However, Waterhouse were back in the lead just minutes before the halftime break, with Rafiek Thomas tapping home from five yards away, three minutes into time added on.  The final will be the second consecutive for Waterhouse.

In the other game, Tivoli spurned a golden opportunity to level the tie from the penalty spot after being awarded a spot-kick in the 83^rd minute.  Kemar Flemmings effort was, however, saved by Jeadean White and Devroy Grey fired the rebound, which fell to his feet, high over the crossbar.  The final will take place at the same venue, at 2:30 pm on Saturday.

Cavalier and Waterhouse will take 1-0 advantages to the second legs of the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) playoffs after narrow wins in their first leg matches, at the Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, on Saturday.

With the game seemingly drifting towards a scoreless draw, Colin Anderson left entered the field of play to make a telling impact.  Just 30 seconds after replacing Shaniel Thomas, Anderson was played through on goal by Nickache Murray and sprinted onto the brilliant through ball to round Tivoli goalkeeper Kewong Watkins and slot into an empty net to give Cavalier a precious first-leg lead.

The second match between Waterhouse and Mount Pleasant was a similarly cagey affair with both sides crafting good opportunities to take the lead.  It was Waterhouse who took one late on, however, when Shaquille Bradford was set up by Kymani Campbell.  The angle was a difficult one but his fierce shot managed to creep through the legs of goalkeeper Shaven Paul at his near post, in the 79th minute.  Paul will, however, be slightly disappointed having been up to what would have been considered by many to be more difficult efforts throughout the match.

The teams will meet at the same venue on Wednesday for the second leg starting at 2:30pm.

Waterhouse FC whipped Arnett Gardens 4-1 and to climb into third spot following their Jamaica Premier League match at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Saturday.

Waterhouse and Tivoli Gardens played to a draw in the final fixture of matchday 5 of the Jamaica Premier League (JPL).

Playing at the Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence in St. Andrew, both teams could only manage one goal each to split the points.

Both goals came in the second half. Waterhouse struck first with a strike from Andre Fletcher in the 63rd minute. Fletcher received the ball at the top of the 18 yard box and turned past the defender to go on and finish off the move in comfortable fashion after tucking the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.

However, it took just only a minute for Tivoli to find the equaliser. Devroy Grey scored a header after a cross from substitute Anthony Nelson in the 64th minute.

Waterhouse dominated the majority of the possession during the game and finished with 15 shots, 4 of which were on target, while Tivoli attempted 7 shots, with only 2 being on target.

Tivoli defender Odeon Pennycooke was named man of the match.

Even so, he believes he could have done more to prevent the goal.

“He caught me flat-footed. I believe if I was on my toes I would have been able to stop the goal,” Pennycooke said when asked about Grey getting by him so easy to score.

The draw means that Waterhouse remains in 6th place with 7 points, while Tivoli are 8th with 6. Round 6 starts on Saturday with Waterhouse taking the field again to face Humble Lion F.C. and leaders Portmore United battling Harbour View.

Perennial rivals Waterhouse and Harbour View battled to a hard-fought 1-1 draw in the fifth and final match of the first round of the Jamaica Premier League.

The match played at the Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, on the grounds of the University of the West Indies, saw Andre Fletcher converting a penalty for Waterhouse in the 15th minute but Oquassa Chong replied with a beautiful freekick in the 24th minute.

Just before Waterhouse got their penalty, Harbour View were left despondent as seconds before, they too had a loud shout for a penalty after Chong crashed to the turf in the area.  Moments after and veteran Lovel Palmer was deemed to have committed a foul on Waterhouse’s Kenroy Howell.  Referee Christopher Mason pointed to the spot after a brief look at the play.  Andre Fletcher stepped up and fired past Tafari Chambers in goal and gave Waterhouse a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.

The talented Chong, now becoming a freekick specialist from his exploits with Jamaica College in the Manning Cup, stepped up and curled a beauty past Tafari Chamber’s brother, Akeem, to pull Harbour View level in minute 24.  It was an even game with a fair result and both teams really tried to play positive football in what turned out to be an entertaining encounter.

Waterhouse’s assistant coach, Daniel Bent, was pleased with the point although he believed they could have secured all three.

“Well, we got a point and we didn’t lose the game. But we wanted all three points but that didn’t come our way,” he pointed out.

“I think we had a good first half and even a better second half. We could have scored many goals if our decisions in the final third were better,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Harbour View’s head coach Ludlow Bernard said he was not totally disappointed with the result.

“It was a game of two halves. We attempted in the second half to really play on the counter but I don’t think our distribution was great and it kind of affected our abilities to create goal-scoring opportunities,” said Bernard.