By LeVaughn Flynn, Staff ReporterTIVOLI GARDENS maintained the seven-point cushion between themselves and joint second place Portmore United, the title holders, and Harbour View when they nipped Village United 1-0 in Wray and Nephew National Premier League (NPL) action at Railway Oval yesterday.
In what was brewing to be a classic stalemate before Steve Green drove home a powerful right-footer from 17 yards in the 59th minute. Green's goal, his second of the season, lifted Tivoli to 54 overall points and nine in this round.
The first half was rather drab and slow and both teams seemed to be waiting on the other to attack so they could use that as motivation.
It is unclear what Village's reason was for their uninspired play but Tivoli's coach, Glendon 'Admiral' Bailey, argued that the two-week break from NPL action resulted in a slow start from his team.
"The guys were match rusty as a result of the two-week break. Some of the guys missed practice and so in the first half we had a poor performance," Bailey said.
Tivoli turned things around, however, in the second half to defeat Village for the third time this season.
"I told them at half time what we needed to do - we needed to start playing energised and enthused - and they did that in the second half. The unit is really coming together and looking strong and that is good for what we want to accomplish," Bailey said.
One of Bailey's accomplishment includes taking home the $1 million prize money at the end of the season by finishing the preliminary matches with the most points.
"That $1 million is a great incentive in such hard economic times," he said.
Another reason for Tivoli's resurgence in the second half was the inclusion of Lenworth Hyde Jnr. and ace striker Christopher Nicholas.
The Lloyd Williams-coached Village were out of sorts when these players employed their quick one-two touches.
"Tivoli's second half changes really stirred our defence," said Wiliams.
"Lenny Hyde moves excellently off the ball and he provided some trouble for our defence with his plays."
Commenting on his team, which is fifth with 42 points overall and four in this round, Williams added: "We're not hungry. We're not making the quality plays needed and playing to the standard that we're suppose to play."
Harbour View flood hapless Star Cosmos
Daraine Luton, Freelance Writer
THE HARBOUR View Mini-Stadium yesterday hosted one of the least entertaining Wray and Nephew/ National Premier League games this season, which featured host Harbour View and relegation-bound Star Cosmos of St. Mary.
Characterised by poor off-the-ball movements, poor passing and general lacklustre play, the Harbour View team squandered an opportunity to further flood a weary-looking Star Cosmos squad that consisted of only 12 players.
Although they muffed several goalscoring opportunities though, the 'Stars of the East' came away 4-0 winners, with Greg Gardner (25th minute), Nicholas McCreath (42nd and 55th minutes) and substitute Daniel Shaw (86th minute) getting the goals.
Even before the first whistle blew, the body language of the Harbour View team suggested they needed some degree of motivation to play the cellar dwellers.
However, not even the persistent shout of "come Harbour View" from their cheerleaders could pump energy into their steps and they went about their duty rather lifelessly.
On the other hand, much cannot be said of Star Cosmos. Although they won the first corner in the game, Harbour View's goalkeeper Leon Gordon, was rarely called into action. In fact, the St. Mary side had only one shot that threatened Gordon's goal - an 82nd minute header from Keion Clunis that beat the out of position goalie and went searching across the face of goal into touch.
The game's opening goal was engineered by Donald 'Foulie' Stewart. He weaved his way into the centre circle from the right flank and then sent a defence-splitting pass for Gardner who chased and won the ball ahead of the oncoming goalie, left him on his backside before blasting into the empty net to register first goal with the club.
McCreath then got his first for the season by making good on a Jermaine Hue pass by beating defender Kurt Edwards before placing a tame effort past Robinson to make it 2-0.
After failing to convert some lovely passes from his midfielders, McCreath took advantage of poor marking by the Star Cosmos defence and slotted home a beautifully crafted past from Christopher Harvey.
Although the Harbour View team was not showing any great hunger for goals, Star Cosmos approached the rest of the game as if it was a warm up session and the sending off of Edwards 12 minutes from time compounded their woes.
Insult was then added to injury when Shaw, who came on as substitute for an unlucky Jermaine Hue, slotted home from inside the area making it 4-0.
Hue was unfortunate not to have his name on the scoresheet as he hit the woodwork twice.
Newly-appointed technical assistant with the Harbour View team, Calvert Fitzgerald, said he was disappointed that his team missed so many chances "but we are happy for the four (goals)".
"We are trying to get as many goals as possible because we are a bit behind on goal difference. It was about getting goals. We were very attacking, we did not hold back and that is why you did not see a lot of passing," Fitzgerald said.
As for Lewin Purser, coach of Star Cosmos, internal problems led to his side not delivering.
"Being that we were coming off two draws against quality teams I thought we had a good chance of competing with Harbour View. It did not work out for us," Purser said.
Portmore tops contentious clash
Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
FIVE YELLOW cards and a red marked a contentious Wray and Nephew National Premier League battle between Portmore United and Constant Spring that saw the visitors coming away 1-0 winners at Constant Spring field yesterday.
Clashes have become the hallmark of games at the Constant Spring field and Portmore United had to fight to keep their three points after Anthony Modeste put the visitors ahead with a 55th minute penalty.
Those three points allowed Portmore to remain joint second with Harbour View on 47 points, while Constant Spring stayed eighth on 27 points.
The game itself had been physical from the outset, with Constant Spring making up for their underdog status in the tables with tenacious tackling.
The aggressive play of 'Spring' did manage to upset the rhythm of the Portmore team and they never looked as fluent as they generally are.
Despite the lack of good football, Portmore did have the clearer chances in the first half and should have gone ahead had Winston Griffiths and company decided to bring their shooting boots along with them.
In the second-half Constant Spring brought on more attacking players only to go behind after 10 minutes.
They did have a number of opportunities to salvage a point though, but like their opponents, they couldn't put the ball between the sticks.
Constant Spring must have rued the loss even more, having played the majority of the second half with a one man advantage.
That advantage came when Griffiths, out of frustration at the physical nature of the game and his own ordinary performance, retaliated by elbowing Nashaun Allen for which he was duly sent off. The blow to Allen was deemed serious enough to warrant him being sent to the hospital for observation.
ONE MAN ADVANTAGE
After going down a player Portmore put nine players behind the ball and played with the a lone striker in the form of Roen Nelson, and the ploy was valid because Constant Spring threw everything into attack with substitute Newton Sterling having two opportunities that he must have wanted to get a second chance at. So even with the one man advantage, 'Spring' weren't able to find a way around a resolute Portmore defence.
"If we can't score the goals we need to learn to win 1-0 and the defenders showed that they understand that today," said relieved Portmore United coach, Lenworth Hyde.
Constant Spring coach Geoffrey Maxwell chalked up his loss to inexperience on his team's part.
"Indiscipline crept into our play and it cost us the game. But these players are young and they have a lot to learn," he said.
Lapses cost unlucky W'house
Raymond Graham, Freelance Writer
DESPITE OUTPLAYING Rivoli United in their Premier League Football encounter at Prison Oval yesterday, Waterhouse came out empty handed as goals in the 62nd and 64th minute by Marvin Henry and skipper Patrick Beech gave the home team a lucky two-nil victory over their rivals.
Playing like a team on fire, Waterhouse totally dominated their opponents in first half action as for the entire half, the home team's supporters were kept quiet.
With the likes Weston Forrest, Demar Phillips, Irvino English and Damion Powell at their best, the Rivoli team was under constant pressure defending for most of the half. At no stage did the Rivoli team look like scoring as they failed to get near the Waterhouse goal.
On the other hand, it was a busy period for goalkeeper Dennis Clayton and his defenders as the Waterhouse team was firing shots from all angles.
Waterhouse came close to scoring on several occasions. First, Kevin Lamey's header from inside the penalty area just went wide of the crossbar, then Powell's powerhouse kick from some 60 metres just barely went wide as Clayton was found napping way off his line.
With the half coming to an end, Waterhouse's national Under-23 player, Desmond Breakenridge, forced goalkeeper Clayton to make a brilliant save from some 45 metres as the half ended goalless.
At the restart, the Waterhouse dominance continued.
However, two costly lapses by the Waterhouse team gave Rivoli two goals in two minutes.
OUTSTANDING GAME
First, central Defender, Dwight Herron, who had an outstanding game for Rivoli, took a ball from the Waterhouse forward then dribbled up field before passing to Mobi Oparaku. He then went by two defenders before passing to Henry, who then dribbled inside the penalty area and kicked past Loxley Reid to put his team in the lead.
Before the celebration had ended, the combination of Garfield Reid and Beech gave the home team their second goal. After a quiet first half by both players, Reid with a long throw found Beech, who caught the defenders napping as he scored to extend their lead.
DEFENDED STUBBORNLY
Although trailing, the Water-house team continued to dominate the play, but failed to find the back of Rivoli's net as Heron, along with substitute player Ricardo Knight and Ruben Whittaker defended stubbornly as the home team held on for a win to keep their good record at the Oval.
Waterhouse's coach, Harold Thomas, who conditioned Rivoli three seasons ago, was very disappointed with his team's loss.
"The team was playing extremely well until two basic errors cost the opponent to score. At this level we cannot afford to make these simple mistakes and the team is now in a hole and we will have to fight to get out of it," he said.
Rivoli's coach, Bradley Stewart, said: "It was the superior conditioning of our players that we were able to win today. We sustained 60 minutes of pressure as the players are extremely fit and also the midfield change where Knight came on for Mark Wisdom contributed to our success."
