By Daraine Luton, Freelance WriterTHE OLD adage 'an ugly win is better than a pretty loss' held true yesterday at Wolmer's where the hosts and 10-time Manning Cup champions gained three points with a rather lacklustre 2-0 win over Waterford.
Playing before a partisan crowd, the Wolmer's team, which included four defenders, five midfielders and a lone striker, Navion Boyd, took time to settle into its stride. However, after getting some semblance of team chemistry going, Wolmer's took the lead.
Midfielder Nicholas Beckett rifled a shot from the top of the area past a frozen Peter Harrison in the Waterford goal. The ball crashed off the right post and ricocheted into the left side of the goal in the 29th minute, giving Wolmer's the lead. But after such an effort and a semblance of team chemistry, one would have though that Wolmer's would open the floodgates on what looked like a flat Waterford team. It was not to be.
Waterford staged a spirited recovery in the second half, pinning down the Wolmerians for the first 30 minutes. Fourteen-year-old Conrad White in particular, was in no mood to surrender. Along with his fellow attackers, White took the attack to a cornered Wolmer's team but had no goals to show for it.
MISSED THREE ATTEMPTS
At the other end of the field, Wolmer's in particular Boyd who missed three attempts from point-blank range made scoring goals look mountainous. It was not until the 87th minute when Jermane Gardner slotted home a Paul Campbell shot that Wolmer's were able to breathe more lightly.
Vassell Reynolds, Wolmer's coach, said the first taste of competition got the better of his boys.
"It was not the best of games but when you play the first game in any competition you normally expect some jitters... I think we did enough to get the three points. We made the game look a little more difficult than it was but all in all I am satisfied with the performance," Reynolds said.
Meanwhile, although losing, Waterford's coach, Everton James, was not overly disappointed with his team's performance.
"I am a bit disappointed but the 2-0 scoreline does not reflect the true run of play," he said.
"Wolmer's are not better than us. They are more organised at this point but they are not better. We are fitter, we passed the ball better than them and we defend much better," assessed James.
