By Nodley Wright,
Staff Reporter
WITH scarcely enough time to breathe after Sunday's end of first round National Premier League final, Waterhouse, still smarting from that loss, are back in action today against first round disappointments Tivoli Gardens in the opening game of the second round at Ferdie Neita Park.
Both teams will start today's game without a number of their key players. Tivoli have been hit hard by injuries and suspensions and, according to coach Allie McNab, at least seven frontline players will be absent.
In other games in the Corporate Area, Constant Spring, who beat Arnett Gardens 2-1 on their home ground in the last round, will host them at Constant Spring while Olympic Gardens, who appear to be enjoying some kind of a revival under new coach Calvert Fitzgerald, will host Wadadah at Cling Cling Oval.
In western Jamaica, Seba United host Reno at Jarrett Park. All games start at 3:00 p.m. with the exception of the Jarrett Park game.
"It is going to be a difficult proposition for us what with the number of injuries and red cards," said McNab. "We have at least seven players out of our regular first team. It is going to be a wait-and-see situation to see whether the fill-in players can make the grade."
The team's spark plug, Jermaine Johnson who has five of the team's nine goals thus far will sit out the match due to a red card from the last game against Wadadah. Joining Johnson on the sideline will be Amos Israel (red card), Steve Green, Kasai Hinds, Trevor Fuller, Conroy Brown and stand-in stopper Kevin Manning.
There are also doubts over the fitness of goalkeeper Edsel Scott, forward Christopher Nicholas and wingback Orville Campbell.
Like Tivoli Gardens, Waterhouse will be without a number of key players.
"We are going into tomorrow's (today) game with quite a few injuries and some of the senior players could very well be missing," said coach Geoffrey Maxwell.
"It could be about four of our players who sustained injuries in the game against Harbour View on Sunday," he said.
Leading goalscorer Kevin Lamey and wingback Irvino English, who limped for most of Sunday's game, are among the wounded.
Today's Games
Constant Spring vs Arnett Gardens at Constant Spring 3:00 p.m.
Tivoli Gardens vs Waterhouse at Ferdie Neita Park 3:00 p.m.
Olympic Gardens vs Wadadah at Cling Cling Oval 3:00 p.m.
Seba United vs Reno at Jarrett Park 7:00 p.m.
