By Ainsley Walters, Staff ReporterPREMIER LEAGUE leaders Tivoli Gardens came back from death yesterday, scoring in the 89th and two minutes into time added on a whirlwind 2-1 come-from-behind Wray and Nephew Premier League win against champions Portmore United at Railway Oval.
Goals from second-half substitutes Christopher Nicholas and Darren Virtue turned the game for the million-dollar hunting semi-final qualifiers in the blink of an eye, snatching what appeared to be three sure points from Portmore, who led from as early as the 39th minute off Roen Nelson's strike.
With angry supporters cranking up to spew venom at an anticipated 1-0 loss, Railway Oval roared to life a minute from time when Christopher Jackson's hard cross from the left side of Portmore's box was intercepted by Jermaine Benjamin just inside the box, cheekily extending his right hand before vehemently protesting referee Peter Prendergast's penalty call.
Nicholas, who had replaced Devon Bissick shortly after the break, stepped to the spot and had goalie Shawn Sawyers going to his left, completely misreading the spot kick already lodged into the back of his net.
WENT FOR THE KILL
Fired-up by a crowd which was ranting a minute earlier, Tivoli went for the kill in stoppage time. Jackson fired a scorching grounder from the left side of midfield with the partisan crowd urging the ball which sailed past the base of Sawyers' far post.
With Portmore's defenders resorting to frantic clearances amid the onslaught, Tivoli won a corner, which Reggae Boy Fabian Davis floated in from the right. Tracked by his marker, Nicholas met the cross at the near post with a good header, which Ricardo Smith half-cleared from the goal line but only as far as Virtue's feet and he made no mistake from four yards in the crammed box.
The thrilling win moved the runaway league leaders and semi-final qualifiers to 64 points, inches away from the $1m for topping the preliminaries.
Only Harbour View, who are on 56 are capable of pegging back the leaders but only if Tivoli lose their three remaining games. Bailey said his ploy to save his better but injury-prone players for the second-half paid off handsomely.
"We've been playing with a lot of injuries lately and have been looking to the bench but they've not been doing what they're supposed to do so I decided to hold the stronger players for later and it came through," he explained.
Doing a quick calculation, Bailey said Harbour View remain their only threat for a $1m pay-day but insisted Tivoli's main aim is being on top of their game during the semi-finals.
"Our main focus is to get everybody healthy for the semis," he pointed out. "Even with the million dollars, all that achievement will go through the window if we fail in the semis. Everything starts fresh there."
Portmore coach Lenny Hyde said his players panicked late in the game.
"I think it was a lapse of concentration when Tivoli were coming at us," he said. "We gave up the last five minutes. We wanted to end the game before the whistle was blown."
The loss cost Portmore second position in the standings, slipping three points to third (53) behind Harbour View, who rallied from a goal down to slam Arnett 3-1 at Compound.
