Tivoli Gardens Football Club head coach, Glendon ‘Admiral’ Bailey, hailed the fighting spirit of his team after battling diligently to carve out a 1-0 win over defending champions Harbour View, in the Digicel Premier League match at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex on Sunday.
A first-half strike by the team’s top scorer, Navion Boyd, secured the crucial points for the West Kingston team, who were beating the Stars of the East for the first time in their last three league matches.
The win also came on the heels of a tough 1-0 loss to Waterhouse, in their previous encounter at Drewsland, and Bailey believes the team’s determination to recover from that setback – though playing against the title-holders – showed their desire to reclaim the crown.
“The team really worked; we had to dig deep and we fought. To become a champion that is how it goes sometimes, it won’t always flow and look pretty,” Bailey said following the game.
“After a disappointing loss against Waterhouse we are back on track and that was very important for us. We didn’t want to lose two straight, the win has lifted the team and we look forward to moving on,” he added.
Boyd made the telling contribution in the 31st minute, drifting inside his marker after collecting a pass from strike partner Devon Hodges to blast the ball past Harbour View custodian, Michaud Barrett, and into the back of the net.
A deserved lead
Despite little goalmouth action in the first 20 minutes, the lead for the home team had been a deserved one, having looked more enterprising in their forward play.
A lively Boyd, who signalled his intention with a 25-yard long-range blast, which went wide of goal in the opening minutes, was always likely to be the one to inflict the damage.
In fact, Tivoli, who regularly found pockets of space to cut through the Harbour View midfield, had a good chance to take the lead five minutes earlier, but splendid link-up play, which had culminated in Boyd playing midfielder Kevin Blackford through on goal, failed to produce fruit, with the latter failing to make any solid contact.
In the second half, however, Harbour View gradually began to find space of their own with midfielder Jermaine Hue, who was not at his best, beginning to exert more influence on the game.
Tivoli also began to concede several free kicks just outside their 18-yard area, but Hue failed to repeat his midweek heroics by curling one into the net, which had seen the Stars of the East thrash Boys’ Town 5-1.
Harbour View substitute, Romario Campbell, almost got his name on the score-sheet in the 80th minute, but saw his long-range effort go just wide of goal after eluding two defenders.
“I don’t think we should have walked away empty handed but that’s how the game goes. We would have hoped to have continued our goalscoring trend but today we had a drought,” said Harbour View’s coach, Donovan Hayles.
“In the second half we got more shots than we did in the first, and I was pleased with how the substitutes responded. Overall, I am pleased we dominated this game, but I am disappointed we did not come away with a draw or all three points.”