Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
AT THE end of a game bereft of any real excitement, Tivoli Gardens supporters cried poetic justice for their 1-0 victory over Rivoli United in a replayed Wray and Nephew National Premier League fixture at the Spring Complex yesterday.
The game should have had a similar result last Sunday, had it not been for crowd interference at the Spanish Town Prison Oval.
However, Christopher Nicho-las' strike was waved off by the Jamaica Football Federation's (JFF) Competitions Committee, which ruled that the game be replayed yesterday at a neutral venue.
Coincidentally, it was Nicholas who scored yesterday's lone goal in the 48th minute.
After a first half in which neither team looked particularly enterprising going forward, Nicholas took advantage of Rivoli's inability to deal with dead-ball situations. He was first to an inswinging corner from Christopher Jackson and headed home easily.
The writing was already on the wall though, as Jackson had swung a corner over just moments before which had to be cleared off the line after Nicholas had gotten the faintest of touches on to the delivery.
The victory for Tivoli means they now move into second place in the second-round standings with 18 points, one more than Arnett Gardens and are joint third with Harbour View in the overall standings, a point below Portmore United and Waterhouse who are on 42 apiece.
After the game Tivoli coach, Glendon 'Admiral' Bailey, was happy with the win, calling it "justice".
"Well, they say God nah sleep. I mean it is a fair justice," commented Bailey.
"The breeze and the surface aren't the best and I think we capitalised well today and that is something that we've been working on and we are thankful for the three points," he said.
Rivoli's coach, Harold Thomas, was very matter-of-fact about the way the game ended.
"I think we got chances we didn't capitalise on and Tivoli got theirs and took it and basically that's it," Thomas said.
