A Tremaine Stewart strike four minutes before the half time break was enough for Waterhouse FC to secure all three points against Arnett Gardens in the latest edition of Monday Night football in the Red Stripe Premier League.

The win took the former champions back up into second place behind league leaders Portmore United, with just one set of games left to complete the second round of the competition.

The usual cut and thrust game between two hard-running teams was on display from the first whistle as they both battled for their first win of the New Year.

Both goalkeepers had to come up with good saves early on with Damion Hyatt tipping over a speculative effort from just under his crossbar before Diego Haughton had to spread himself to deny Marvin Morgan.

Despite the early signs of goals in the game neither team was able to sustain pressure long enough to break down the opposing defence.

Arnett Gardens threatened from a few set plays but were unable to make them count and the home fans got excited when they were awarded a free kick just outside the box late in the half. The usually deadly Tremaine Stewart was unable to beat the wall with his effort however, as the Arnett defenders did their job.

But the attacking midfielder would have the crowd on its feet in the 41st minute. The Arnett Gardens defenders backed off, inviting him to shoot and Stewart happily took advantage of the space he was given, driving his effort home from about 30 yards.

The ball skipped off the slick surface, bounced over the head of a diving Hyatt and into the back of the net. The Arnett Gardens custodian seemed to be wrong-footed by the shot but certainly should have done better.

The second half was more of the same with both teams giving as much as they got. Jerome Waite rang the changes in the second half in an effort to get something out of the game but the Waterhouse defence stood firm to claim their first clean sheet of 2019.

Andre Leslie had a glorious opportunity to put the game beyond doubt in the first minute of stoppage time but was unable to get his shot on target.

With the win, Waterhouse were able to leapfrog Cavalier back into second place on goal difference as they both boast a tally of 37 points after 21 games played, two behind the champions who have 39 points.

Waterhouse FC assistant coach Lamar Morgan was happy to end the club’s losing streak.

“We, the technical staff, are pleased knowing that we are coming off a two-game losing streak, so tonight’s (Monday) game was very, very important for us to get three points,” he said.

The club was keen on getting back into second place as the round comes to an end Morgan indicated.

“We try to climb the table each game we play so it was important for us to get three points today to carry us up the table.”

Waterhouse will end the round with an away game against eighth-place Humble Lion on Thursday. Morgan is under no illusions as to the difficulty of the challenge but is focused on victory nonetheless.

“It will be a tough one against Humble Lion but we are expecting to do well so we are going to travel and try to get three points there also,” he declared.

Teams: Waterhouse — Diego Haughton, Keithy Simpson, Carlos Wright, Tremaine Stewart, Denardo Thomas, Rafeik Thomas (Girvon Brown 69th), Kenroy Howell, Andre Leslie (Stephen Williams 83rd) Kymani Campbell, Shaun Dewartz, Oshane Roberts

Subs not used: Akeem Chambers, Damion Binns, Andre McFarlane, Ricardo Samuels, Ricardo Thomas

Booked: Leslie (83rd)

Arnett Gardens — Damion Hyatt, Ramone McGregor, Jabeur Johnson, Ranike Anderson, Kemar Phillpotts (Jameil Hardware 72nd), Ronaldo Wright (Javoni Simms 66th), Tamar Edwards, Fabian Reid, Zhelando Barnes, Vishinul Harris (Paul Wilson 66th), Marvin Morgan,

Subs not used: Lloyd Tyme, Jamar Martin, Rickardo Oldham, Jameil Hardware, Romario Kelly

Booked: Reid (44th), Morgan (82nd), Johnson (88th)

Referee: Okeito Nicholson

Assistant referees: Jermaine Yee Sing, Damian Williams

Fourth official: Oshane Nation