Photo: Rodico Wellington scored a stoppage time penalty to earn a 1-1 draw for Waterhouse with Reno in the Red Stripe Premier League on Sunday.
Waterhouse FC were left counting their lucky stars while FC Reno was left fuming following a 1-1 draw in the Red Stripe Premier League fixture at the Waterhouse Stadium on Sunday. A Craig Foster header in the 66th minute was cancelled out by a Rodico Wellington penalty in stoppage time as the teams shared the spoils.
The hosts could have taken the lead as early as the 2nd minute when a quick move through the midfield saw Ricardo Thomas finding Andre Dawson who in turned found his strike partner Dean Andre Thomas who pulled his effort wide of the target.
Waterhouse continued to dominate the early exchanges and Tremaine Stewart should have done better, blazing over the cross bar from the edge of the area with just over a quarter hour played.
Craig Foster was the man for Reno as usual, taking two free kicks near the area in the first half hour but failing to produce anything special on either occasion.
Ten minutes before the break Reno had a breakaway but Foster chose to shoot when passing to a teammate inside the box was a better option.
Romone Powell almost put his team in danger when his poor headed clearance from a corner kick fell to Keno Simpson inside the area but the tame shot from the midfielder went straight to Dennis Taylor in the Reno goal as the teams went in 0-0 at the interval.
Waterhouse came out gunning for the opener and Shawn McKoy almost made the breakthrough when he got on the end of a cross from Ricardo Thomas but his header was brilliantly saved by Taylor.
The visitors however would be the first to find the back of the net through the ever present Foster. Jeffery Henry’s back header saw tipped unto the crossbar by a recovering Diego Haughton in the Waterhouse goal but the rebound fell kindly to Foster who nodded into the empty goal.
Waterhouse went on the hunt for the equalizer but failed to put any solid attacks together as Reo midfield did well to thwart any good build-ups.
Jashane Foster pulled off an acrobatic clearance from a corner kick for what looked like a sure Waterhouse goal much to the dismay of the home fans.
Waterhouse kept coming and Reno was prepared to play on the counter attack and it was from one of these counter attacks that the first big moment of controversy occurred in the 84th minute. Substitute Dasha Satchwell appeared to pull down Hanell Burrell inside the box after he had been played clean through by Craig Foster in a two on one situation but referee Odette Hamilton waved away the Reno appeals for a penalty.
Dawson then had a chance to bring his team level but failed to get his header on target after being picked out by Nicholy Finlayson as the back post. Stewart also had a glaring miss from inside the area as Waterhouse continue to spurn chances.
The on the stroke of full time, the second big moment of the game as Hamilton awarded a penalty kick to Waterhouse for a handball inside the area. The Reno players protested that the player was too close when he was struck but again Hamilton waved away the appeals and rightly so on this occasion.
Wellington then held his composure to slot home from twelve yards and grab a late point for his team.
Glendon “Admiral” Bailey praised the reslience of his troops to get something from the game.
“The more games we play is the better we are going to get. The fact that we showed that resilience, to come from behind when we went down is a testimony to that. Football is ungratefull…you play all the ball and end up lose the game…so I am pleased that we dominate the game and didn’t lose it, it will help to build the moral and the confidence of the young players.”
“We are getting a lot of chances, we are seeing the goal and we are not putting the ball in the net.That is an area we need to spend a lot of attention on now,” Bailey lamented.
The Reno coach believes that time will be a friend to his team as the players get used to playing with each other.
“First half we didn’t play according to our plan but gradually we got the game going, in the latter part of the second half. We made five changes to the team so we have to give it time to work, we have to be really patient with these players.They can play, they have the qualities so they just need the time.”
He is also banking on main man Craig Foster to work his way to full fitness and do a lot more for the team.
“Foster can do a lot more than what he did for the team today. He is not as mobile as we want him to be but we are working with him in practise to get him to where we want him to be.”
Waterhouse has begun the new campaign with two draws while Reno now have four points after registering a win on the opening day to go along with the draw on Sunday.
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