By Nodley Wright, Staff Reporter
Waterhouse's Kirk Campbell (left), holds onto Arnett Gardens striker, Walter Boyd, as they battled for possession during the Craven 'A' National Premier League match at Tony Spaulding Sports Complex yesterday. Arnett Gardens won 2-0. - Ian Allen
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS Arnett Gardens registered their third win in a row in the National Premier League (NPL) by stopping Waterhouse 2-0 at Tony Spaulding Sports Complex yesterday.
Jonathan Williams in the 18th minute and substitute Denton Shedden in the third minute of time added scored to hand their team victory. The win increased Arnett Gardens' points tally to 10.
Just like Tuesday's encounter between Harbour View and Hazard, yesterday's encounter was not an attractive one. Waterhouse played the better football at the outset and created the first chance in the third minute when a good build-up involving Andre Hickling, Irvino English and Alberto Fray ended with Fray crossing for Kevin Lamey who headed straight at Selvin Collins.
Arnett Gardens had a chance in the 12th minute when Gregory Messam's blast to the near post was beaten away by goalkkepoer Locksley Reid. Three minutes later, Walter Boyd got off down the left flank and fed Kwame Richardson who mis-kicked from a one-time effort.
Richardson was to make up for the miss when he created the goal for Williams with a low cross which he fired at Reid's goal. He got two hands to it but could not keep it out.
There was not much else in the first half.
Both teams made a number of changes in the second half with Shedden and Brenton Lopez for Arnett Gardens having the most impact. Shedden scored the winner from a Boyd assist while Lopez looked intelligent in the 15 minutes he got and even forced a good save out of Reid.
Coach Jerome Waite said the win a meant a lot to his club and signalled his team's revival.
"Waterhouse played the long football and tried to force my team to make mistakes but today Arnett Gardens played the game more casually because Waterhouse did not put out that amount of zest and the end result was not a true reflection as we should have scored at least six goals," Waite said.
Opposing coach Chris Ziadie agreed the scoreline was not an accurate one but for a different reason.
"I thought it was a pretty even game. The last goal there was not a fair reflection. They scored in extra time ... like in the third minute so if you really look at it could have been a 1-0 game," Ziadie said.
In the other Kingston match, Duhaney Park secured their first point for the season, holding Tivoli to a 0-0 draw at Duhaney Park.
RESULTS
Arnett Gardens 2 Waterhouse 0
Duhaney Park 0 Tivoli 0
Village 0 Constant Spring 1
