Tivoli Gardens continued to ride their luck in the Jamaica Yellow Pages/KSAFA Jackie Bell Knock-Out Competition when they booked their spot in the finals courtesy of a 3-1 penalty shoot-out win over fierce rivals Boys Town, at the Stadium East Field on Sunday.
Tivoli Gardens continued to ride their luck in the Jamaica Yellow Pages/KSAFA Jackie Bell Knock-Out Competition when they booked their spot in the finals courtesy of a 3-1 penalty shoot-out win over fierce rivals Boys Town, at the Stadium East Field on Sunday.
The game which was played in front of a decent sized crowd did not take long to spark into life as Boys Town was ahead after only seven minutes. A tame free kick which should have brought out a routine save from Deron Duncan who was deputising for Edsel Scott, was spilled by the custodian and Peter Keyes was on hand to poke home the loose ball, giving his team a fortuitous 1-0 lead.
The Boys Town lead would not last long and Tivoli were level only eight minutes later through another error. Asrick Samuels was badly positioned when he tried to clear a right sided cross and the ball skewed off his foot and past an advancing Kirk Porter in the Boys Town goal.
The goal seemed to inspire Tivoli who was then able to maintain a period of dominance creating a couple of good chances.
The first fell to Jameel Thompson who headed a Shawn McKoy cross just over the bar, followed by a right footed effort from Junior Flemmings which went just wide of the far post.
Michael Campbell then responded for the Red Brigade when he stole in between two defenders to get onto the end of a cross, but his header just skimmed the cross bar as the score remained locked at 1-1.
Boys Town were left counting their lucky stars at the break when shortly before the half time whistle a shot from Ranike Anderson somehow managed to stay out of the net with Porter stranded on his backside.
Perhaps the most telling activity in the half, apart from the two goals, was the substitution of Boys Town goal scorer Peter Keys in the 26th minute due to an injured groin.
The second half produced very little by way of goal mouth action but it was a typical West Kingston derby with tackles flying in a typically aggressive game.
Tivoli had their moments in the half where they dominated play but had very little to show for it.
The best piece of action in the second half was a splendid piece of play from substitute Rohan Scott who did well to bring a high ball under control on the edge of the area before hooking a shot to goal. It brought the best out of Duncan who acrobatically tipped the ball over his crossbar for a corner.
Nil-all at full time meant thirty minutes of extra time. Navion Boyd stung the palms of Porter in the 100th minute and the Boys Town captain had to gather at the second attempt.
With ten minutes left in stoppage time, Duncan almost had another gaffe, but was able to push the ball to safety with the Boys Town forwards lurking.
Kevin Blackwood had a glorious opportunity to be the hero and see his name up in lights when a corner kick fell kindly to him in the final minute of extra time. With time to control and set himself inside the area, he somehow managed to place his shot wide of the goal seconds before the final whistle.
Tivoli managed to hold their nerves in the dreaded shootout. The Glendon Bailey coached team was first to kick and Navion Boyd, Christopher Jackson and Kemar Flemmings all converted from 12 yards. Michael Campbell and Porter both failed to score for Boys Town either side of the converted effort by Blackwood.
With the tensions mounting, Rohan Reid had the chance to seal it for Tivoli Gardens but he too missed from the spot. It was then left up to youngster Rohan Scott to score and keep his team in the contest but the pressure proved too much and in trying to place it to the keeper’s right he placed it wide of the post as Tivoli celebrated their spot in the finals.
Bailey praised his players for executing the work done in training leading up to the game.
“We did some very good tactical work in training and they followed through and played the game we asked of them. They followed instructions today and in the end the villain Duncan, became the hero with his saves in the shootout.”
“The lottery didn’t favour is today, we didn’t buy the winning ticket,” said a dejected Andrew Price, head coach of Boys Town.
“Keys going down early didn’t help us. But the youngsters came in and acquitted themselves well so it augers well for the future. We were unfortunate because we got the chance in extra time to win it, but we just didn’t put the chance away,” he concluded.
Tivoli Gardens will play August Town in the finals after the defending champions were upset 1-0 in the day’s second encounter. That game has been scheduled for the Waterhouse Mini-Stadium on March 5th.
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