Carl Spence, Gleaner Writer
The Gleaner Company was the first team to reach the finals of the Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association's (KSAFA) knock-out Business House Division One football competition with a 2-1 triumph over old rivals, National Water Commission (NWC) in their semi-final match hosted at the Cable and Wireless Sports Complex on Saturday.
Gleaner opened the scoring in the 12th minute through Fabian Nethersole who was on the receiving end of a through ball played to him from a counter attack orchestrated by Clint Reid playing out of midfield. Reid's pass split open NWC's defence to find Nethersole on the left side of the field with just the keeper to beat. Nethersole's first two touches off the ball took him into the penalty area where he took a fierce left-footed drive that beat goalkeeper, Leroy Grey to his near post.
NWC, who had close opportunities in the second and eight minutes, found what was an inevitable equaliser in the 16th minute when Patrick Edmunson latched on to a lobbed free-kick on top of the six yard line then hit a low drive pass an advancing Andrew Sewell in goal. The game then became an exciting affair for the fans, but the score remained unchanged for the rest of the first half.
The game got pretty physical in the second half and saw two red cards being issued. Gleaner suffered a numerical disadvantage from as early as the 60th minute when George Stephens was sent to the showers early for his second yellow card offence.
The red card never seemed to trouble the 2004 League Champions as in the 61st minute, just seconds after Stephens was ejected, Gleaner found what was the eventual winner when Fitzroy Picket pounced on Nethersole's left-sided cross and witnessed the ball deflecting off his shin and into the net.
"The only thing wrong with the team today was our shouting," exclaimed Perry Bartley, coach of NWC as he lamented over his team's defeat.
Winning coach, Michael Williams, credited his team for the swift counter attacks.
"We worked the counter attack very well and that's what I personally feel lead to the team's win," he said.
The next semi-final between Petro-jam and Supreme Ventures is expected to be played this Saturday at the same venue, with the final expected a week later.
