Lamey's antics mar victory
published: Friday | November 28, 2003
By LeVaughn Flynn,
Staff Reporter
INDISCIPLINE REARED its ugly head again in the Wray & Nephew National Premier League (NPL) yesterday when Waterhouse striker Kevin Lamey refused to be substituted during his team's second-round match with Reno at the Drewsland Mini Stadium.
Waterhouse scored a 2-0 win over Reno and maintained their top position in the NPL but Lamey's action cast a pall on the team's performance and he could face suspension.
"This has never happened before," said Waterhouse's assistant coach Barry Brown on Lamey's stance. "(As to suspension) we (team management) will have to discuss that," he said.
DISREGARDED
The player that should have replaced Lamey, Roberto Fletcher, stood at the fourth official's table waiting to take the field, but apparently spurred by the spectator's disapproval of the substitution, which they emphatically voiced, Lamey disregarded his coach's instructions. The game continued with Fletcher returning to the bench.
Waterhouse's victory kept them at the top spot with strikes from Weston Forrest in the 26th minute and substitute Damion Powell in added time (90+2).
Waterhouse raced ahead of Reno after Forrest knocked a header past Aaron Lawrence from an Irvino English cross.
Powell, who replaced midfielder Demar Phillips early in the second half, seemed to have entered the game with the mind-set of making a sudden impact. However, his ill-advised shots at goal which were off by at least five metres, resulted in unkind responses from the spectators. He did get his act together though, and his late goal was some consolation and in turn he received more favourable responses.
Both teams played uninspiringly but Waterhouse's home advantage was their ticket to maintaining their win record.
Reno felt the brunt of the lacklustre performance and their coach, Wendell Downswell, was understandably displeased after the game.
"We didn't come to play. I'm definitely not impressed (with what I saw). We made a simple mistake which resulted in the first goal and at half-time we spoke about it but we did not recover," Downswell said.
