By Paul-André Walker, Staff ReporterWATERHOUSE won the JFF/JNBS Federation Cup Knockout competition with a spirited 2-1 victory over Village United in the final at Harbour View Mini-Stadium yesterday.
The winners' goals came from the head of their veteran Boris Johnson (14th) and the boots of Nigerian international, Uchechukwu Chinyere (69th), while Village's goal was scored by substitute Fabian Dawkins at the 72nd minute.
On a hot afternoon, Waterhouse started their quest to hold high the coveted trophy in a matter of 90 minutes, but at the pace they started the game you would have thought they were only going to play for five.
"This is a knockout competition and so we knew that the emphasis must be on attack. If you look at the game, had Waterhouse taken their chances the game would have been over very early and that is what we were seeking to do," said Waterhouse's coach, Kenneth Campbell.
Village, playing in their first national final, began slowly and Waterhouse made them pay, hitting the back of the net twice in the first 15 minutes. The first came in the first minute but it wasn't counted because of the assistant referee's offside ruling.
The team, also called 'Firehouse', continued to pour on the heat and were justly rewarded when Kirk Ramsey, on a solo run down the right flank, was brought down with dramatic consequences.
It was from that free-kick that Damion Powell swept a beautifully weighted cross into the box to find the experienced Johnson, who without a marker in sight, made no mistake in placing his header into the same corner that the cross had just come from.
While the pace of the game was incredible, there was no real action to speak about in the first half and when the second half rolled around the pace of the first had obviously taken its toll on the players.
The game seemed as if it would peter out into a tame 1-0 result.
That was until the 67th minute when the Village team seemed to wake up to their situation and started throwing players into attack to good effect.
ATTACKING
Waterhouse responded by attacking as well, with long sweeping balls that turned defence into attack in a jiffy.
It was one of those long balls that was picked upon by Powell that brought about the second goal. Powell, who was turning provider for the second time, with a powerful run down the right flank, knocked a ball gently back across the face of goal and unto the foot of Chinyere, who tapped the ball into an empty net, Powell's run having displaced custodian Elvis Hart.
Rather than deflate Village, the 0-2 margin spurned them on and three minutes later they answered questions about their willingness to be competitive.
Dawkins, who had not been able to keep a ball from the opposition since his second half entrance, was the quickest to a cross that was similar to Powell's move earlier and capitalised on what was an easy chance.
Waterhouse looked to restate their advantage for the most part and end to end action ensued with Village streaming through the middle and Waterhouse swarming the flanks, making for exciting football, that could have had a very different result had the lucky shoe been on the other foot.
"I think we gave up the initiative in the back when we failed to mark Chinyere and Boris, but we played to instructions. I think with the exception of those two mistakes the team played well," said Village's coach, Lloyd Williams.
