A stone-faced Ricardo Smith was a picture of bewilderment after his team let slip an opportunity to fully extend their lead atop the Jamaica Premier League on Sunday.

With Waterhouse FC breathing down their necks, just two points behind them at the start of match week 17, a 1-1 draw with Tivoli Gardens meant the gap at the top was extended to three points and not the possible five that they would have been hoping for.

Smith was philosophical in his response to the draw after Tivoli Gardens managed to cancel out his team’s one goal first-half advantage with a second-half penalty strike.

“Disappointing, but at the same time we have to be grateful,” he said.

“Tivoli got some clear chances that they could have put the game to bed, but we stuck in there. It was not our best game, but we got a point, no worries,” he continued.

With the gap between the top two teams and the sixth-place team being 16 points, Smith knows that he has nothing to fear as far as play-off football is concerned.

“We are not worried about anything. We are just going to pull up our socks and come again.”

As for the Dunbeholden players, Smith said he expects them to rebound in the next game, which will be against Arnett Gardens on Sunday.

“I know these guys. They are very disappointed. Looking at their faces, they know they didn’t turn up today, so I know the next game they are going to come and show what they really have,” he stated.

The shining light, in an otherwise disappointing performance for Smith, was the performance of the team’s leading striker, Atapharoy Bygrave, who took his tally to 11 with his first-half header on Sunday.

“He has been working, he has been getting the goals. He was off a few games, but he is back on track now and that’s good for the club and good for him and good for the country also. So, just look for him scoring more goals,” Smith promised.

The big addition to the individual scoring performance of Bygrave has been the striking partnership that he has forged with Peter McGregor, which has seen the club stretch their unbeaten run to nine games, with seven wins included.

“We have been talking to them about it and asked them to keep that consistency in getting the ball into the net. It can only be good for them and for us,” Smith concluded.

The partnership between Bygrave and McGregor has been one of the deadliest in the premiership, since the latter signed for the club in the transfer window.

Waterhouse retake the lead in the premier league following their narrow 1-0 win over Humble Lion on Monday night, but their advantage is merely goal difference in a very tight race for first place in the league. Waterhouse have a goal difference of 22, while Dunbeholden have a goal difference of 11.

— Dwayne Richards