Adrian Frater, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S much-anticipated rescheduled Wray & Nephew National Premier League Montego Bay derby between Wadadah and Seba generated much excitement but no goals as the teams battled to a 0-0 stalemate.
By virtue of the shared points, both teams remain near the bottom of the 12-team standings with Wadadah, on 12 points, hovering just above the relegation zone; and Seba United, on nine points, inside the zone alongside bottom-place Constant Spring.
"We played without our chief playmaker Raphael Palmer, today and we never made the type of adjustment we were hoping for," said Wadadah's coach, Anthony 'Follies', Williams. "On the fixture, this counted as an away game so you could say we took a point on the road."
Seba United's coach, Paul 'Tegat' Davis, was clearly unhappy with the result and once again blamed his strikers for not producing the goods despite getting enough quality chances. However, he said he was generally pleased with the way his midfield and defence had played. "Except for the missed chances, we basically played according to the game plan, especially in the midfield and defence," said Davis. "The strikers need to realise that goals win matches so if they don't score, we can't win."
EXCITING FIRST HALF
The first half of the game produced exciting end-to-end play, evoking memories of some of the epic Montego Bay derbies of the past. However, the failure of the teams to put away the chances they created robbed the enthusiastic fans of the complete package.
The most glaring miss of the half came in the 44th minute when Wadadah's Oliver Trail got behind the Seba defence but with goalkeeper Alrick Henry at his mercy, he cracked his shot high over the crossbar, ensuring a 0-0 half-time scoreline.
In the second half, the pace remained hectic but the quality of the shooting remained dismal. In the 55th minute, Seba United's Wilfred Smith fumbled badly six yards away from goal with just the goalkeeper to beat. Seven minutes later, Wadadah's captain Daniel Ricketts looped a neat volley goalwards but his effort cleared the crossbar.
Midway through the half, Seba United missed what looked like a certain goal. In the 70th minute, Smith pounced on a cross inside the goal area but his fierce shot lodged between the legs of goalkeeper Gavine Barrett, in goal for Wadadah, cutting short the screams of "goal" from the Seba United supporters.
Towards the end of the game, it was an all-out scramble between the teams as they battled desperately to break the deadlock.
