‘Forget about playing pretty and get me three points’ was the battle cry from Glendon ‘Admiral’ Bailey to his Tivoli Gardens charges on Sunday November 17th as the team got ready to face August Town at the UWI Mona Bowl in the latest round of the Red Stripe Premier League.
‘Forget about playing pretty and get me three points’ was the battle cry from Glendon ‘Admiral’ Bailey to his Tivoli Gardens charges on Sunday November 17th as the team got ready to face August Town at the UWI Mona Bowl in the latest round of the Red Stripe Premier League.
Knowing that the home team was low on confidence after struggling to get points recently and losing their last home game to Boys Town by 2-0 only a week ago, Bailey charged his team to get back to winning ways in an effort to get back into title contention.
Asserting that the ‘pretty football’ was doing his team no good at the moment, Bailey stressed the importance of a win to his team and though the game yesterday was not a spectacle by any means, Tivoli did get the three points when they carved out a narrow 1-0 win over August Town in a sometimes bruising, physical contest.
The all important goal was struck by Andre Morgan in the 68th minute in what was for the most part a forgettable encounter.
The first half was littered with mistakes as both teams failed to put together and period of good football that was expected by the fair sized crowd. Tivoli’s Rohan Reid was especially guilty of misplaced passes in the attacking third as every Tivoli attack seemed to go through him and broke down with his woeful final pass each time. The usually good passer was really off his game yesterday.
Rafiek Shaw did get a wonderful chance to put his team ahead midway the first half when he found himself one on one with Kevin Graham in the August Town goal, but while he dallied on the ball, Graham closed the space and blocked the effort from Shaw to good effect.
Shaw who also had a low-keyed game, did have a very good effort in first half stoppage time when he met a right-sided cross on the volley, but his effort went just over the top of the crossbar. The half time score of 0-0 was a fair reflection of the run of play.
Apart from the goal from Morgan, there was very little action for much of the second half as well, as both teams failed to spark offensively. It was no surprise that Reid was the first substitution for Tivoli who had to withstand a late assault from the home team who pushed valiantly for an equalizer.
With just under fifteen minutes to go, Larone Russell should have pulled his team level when the burly winger used his strength to good effect, shrugging off the challenge of two defenders to get inside the box. However, with just Edsel Scott in goal to beat, Russell somehow managed to skew his shot horribly wide to the amazement of the home fans. His shot ended up going for a throw-in to Tivoli Gardens.
Russell was one of three offensive changes made in the dying embers of the game as August Town fought desperately for the equalizer. Rohan Williams was gifted the opportunity to be the hero just moments after coming on but struck his shot straight at Scott from 12 yards out.
With that miss went any chance of August Town salvaging a point as they remain in seventh place in the premier league table after a good start to the season.
Tivoli Gardens are now up to third spot in the league which is now being led by Montego Bay United who saw off a stuttering Waterhouse 3-0 at Drewsland yesterday.
Bailey expressed his satisfaction with the win after the game saying, “It was a rugged game, they played with heart and desire, it wasn’t about playing pretty, entertaining football, but about the three points.
“I am really pleased with the way we withstood the pressure that August Town put on us late in the game and shows that we know how to grind out a result. Hopefully we can put a run of games together and get right in amongst the leaders before the new year,” he said.
Tivoli will next host Boys Town in a Monday Night game at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex.
Photo: Kemar Flemmings of Tivoli battles Larone Russell of August Town for possession of the ball in yesterday’s action of the Red Stripe Premier League at the UWI
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