By Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor
Tivoli's Christopher Nicholas celebrates with a fan after scoring his team's second goal in their Wray & Nephew National Premier League match at Railway Oval yesterday. Tivoli won 2-0. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
TIVOLI GARDENS took matters into their own hands to ensure themselves a place in Sunday's end of second round final by beating Waterhouse 2-0 in their Wray and Nephew National Premier League match at Railway Oval yesterday.
They will play St. Catherine team Rivoli who qualified from Sunday with a 2-0 win against Reno at Frome.
That win put them on 23 points which they eventually finished with to end in second place as they lost 3-1 at home to Harbour View yesterday.
Tivoli, who started the day at 21 points, were the only team in a position to overtake Rivoli and the win over Waterhouse made that happen as they advanced to 24 points.
GREAT RELIEF
Midfielder Lenworth Hyde Jnr. (56th) and Christopher Nicholas (62nd) scored the goals which were met with great relief and huge cheers around the ground by the home crowd.
This was due to the awareness of the threat Portmore United were mounting to Tivoli's position in Sunday's final, as carried live on radio and scores through the ground's PA system.
Portmore, who would have advanced to the final if Tivoli had ended with a tie, led Village United 2-1 at half-time, while Tivoli and Waterhouse were locked in a goalless struggle at the same time.
Asked what he said to his team in the dressing room at that stage, Tivoli's coach, Glendon 'Admiral' Bailey, said: "I told them that we have destiny in our hands in terms of where we go from here. It seems as if that motivated them. We lifted our game and that made the difference."
The added step in the west Kingston team's play was evident with the introduction of Darren Virtue for the tentative Andrew Chisholm. They were hungrier and went close to scoring on four occasions before Hyde, who created problems all afternoon with his dribbling and cutting movements between the defenders, got them on the scoresheet.
The opening was created at the 11th minute of the second term by a 'wicked' pass behind defence from Christopher Nicholas, who from a position approaching the penalty area on the extreme right wing, made a measured pass towards goal.
Hyde met the ball with another well-timed run and hit a firm, grounded shot one-time that deflected from the body of advancing goalie Locksley Reid inside the near post.
AN UNCOMFORTABLE POSITION
Seven minutes later, Reid was exposed again, this time from a low, curling free kick by Fabian Davis on the left flank. The ball bounced twice and when it arrived at an uncomfortable position for any goalie - at goalmouth, Reid's job got harder with three orange shirts in his face and none of his yellow and blue clad teammates around to challenge.
Nicholas, whom he had prevented from scoring three times in the first half, got the nick that helped it along into the net to ensure Tivoli's passage.
"I'm very pleased with the win, not in the sense that we beat Waterhouse but I think the team played a good tactical game today and that made the difference," said Bailey, whose team was denied a place in the first round final by Waterhouse.
In reference to their opponents in Sunday's 5:00 p.m. final at Tony Spaulding Sports Complex, Bailey said: "Rivoli is a good quality team. We can't take them lightly. Rivoli is a team that never stops running at you."
He added though, that "... the way we're playing right now, if we continue the same way we'll be hard to lose."
Waterhouse, in the meantime, lost their second successive game and slipped two spots in the overall standings to fourth on 39 points.
They were leaders before Sunday but have since been overtaken by Harbour View (43), then Tivoli (42) and Portmore United (41) yesterday, with Village (38) and Rivoli (36) in close touch heading into what appears a tough third round battle for the four semi-final spots.
"It's a worrying factor that we've lost back to back games," said Barry Brown, coach of the first round champions.
"We're just going to have to work harder in the third round if we are to make the semi-finals."
