A well constructed goal, created by young attacking midfielder, Romario “RumRum” Campbell on the right flank as he cut and weaved his way inside then out again, before delivery a telling pass low to Lovel Palmer about the penalty spot to drive home, one-time on the volley, scorching the nylons leaving former National Goalkeeper, Richard “Spoon” McCallum stranded and in utter dismay.
Waterhouse had the better goal scoring opportunities from the earlier exchanges as Kenardo Forbes kicked wide when he found himself all alone on the left-side of the 18 yards line. Another half chance fell to the feet of the wily attacker, Jonathan Williams, as Dicoy Williams lost control of the ball, Jonathan then swiveled by another defender to shunt it back from the touchline for his teammate but the errant shot was woefully off target by Jermaine Anderson not even troubling National Goalkeeper, Dwayne Miller with a save.
The tactical exchanges ensued as both teams settled into their ball-moving patterns, to produce keen rivalry with contrasting styles of possession, HVFC employed short, sharp passes then issued to new target man, National striker, Kavin Bryan who often times tried to turn his opponents to head goalwards. He however in the 28th minute fooled the defenders who backed off him in expectation of another turned, he smartly, rolled the ball into the path of Romario Campbell whose left-footed blast from 22 yards had McCallum scurry full length to his left to palm the shot from inside his post, to its outside for a corner. Moments after, both players again would combine to elude their opponents but Bryan last late to get on the end of Campbell’s pass as McCallum dove at his feet to avert the danger.
Andre Steele was to give a glimpse of his immense talent as he worked a three man combination be felled outside the penalty area but the resulting free-kick was charged down by the defensive wall, just before the halftime.
A cat-n-mouse game played itself out in the second stanza, as HVFC came out aggressively dominating possession for the first 18 minutes before making two substitutions and assuming a more defensive stance as Christopher Harvey and Kemar Lawrence replaced both attacking midfielders, Romario Campbell and Andre Steele.
Waterhouse took the invitation to possess and attack but seemed a bit dizzy by the tactic as they tried time an again to penetrate without luck before adding two subs themselves early, including Kevin Lamey but nothing changed as the looked stunned, confused and at loggerheads, as they repeated self –inflicted error after error to turnover the ball under defensive pressure.
A late handball, 21yards from goal caused a momentary scare but it was blocked by the huge defensive 6-man wall, to be cleared upfield. Lawrence gained possession at the halfline and tried to wriggle free enough to kick into an unprotected goal, only to be pulled down from behind, as goalkeeper McCallum hurried back into his goal after venturing upfield in a last ditch desperate attack to salvage a goal, that never came.
HVFC 1 Waterhouse FC 0.
Next Wednesday, January 20th at 5pm, HVFC travels to Tivoli Gardens FC for the quarterfinals in the KSAFA Jackie Bell Knockout, new Home and Away format.