Boyd pilots TG to narrow win
HOSTS Tivoli Gardens stopped Harbour View 1-0 in Digicel Premier League football action at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex on Sunday.
A quick tempo marked the first half as the teams battled for possession though the hosts made better use of their chances to get the ball into the area missing two great shots to take the lead around the 18th and 29th minutes.
The orange-and-black clad home team had the ball in their half most of the time and finally their tenacity paid off as Navion Boyd’s right-sided kick went jerkily past the Harbour View goalkeeper Michard Barrett in the 30th minute.
Harbour View came close to scoring in first half injury time as Andre Fagan slid in the grass and his strike went just wide of the right side of the post to the clear dismay of coach Donovan Hayles.
The pace slowed significantly at the beginning of the second half and remained that way .
Tivoli came close to a second goal in the 50th, but Keammar Daley’s 25-yard dash went in vain as he struck the ball wide of the left of the goal post.
The visitors made two substitutions late in the second half as they sought to inject some life into their faltering attack as Kemeel Wolfe and Romario Campbell came on for Marcelino Blackburn and John-Ross Edwards.
The move seemed to pay off as the side came closest to scoring in the second half, but again unsuccessfully as the bundle created in goal still could not find the back of the net.
The game started to drag as it tapered off as neither team was able to recapture the verve of the first 45 minutes.
Harbour View coach Donovan Hayles said it was just not their day, evidenced by the fact that they got many opportunities to score but failed to do so and that they had scored five goals in the previous encounter.
“I’m very disappointed because I think we played good enough to either win this game or at least come out with a point,” he told the Observer.
Tivoli’s coach Glendon Bailey while ruing some missed chances said he liked the spirit the team showed.
“We should have buried the game in the second half. We got chances and we should have put them away. What I like though is that the team dug deep and we fought and to become a champion that’s what you have to do,” he said.
Teams: Tivoli Gardens — Leon Gordon (Peter Harrison 16th), Kemar Flemmings, Victor Thompson, Kasai Hinds, Christopher Jackson, Raymond Williamson, Kevin Blackford (Damion Gordon 78th), Keammear Daley (Kevin Deerr 79th), Shawn McKoy, Navion Boyd, Devon Hodges.
Subs not used: Rupert Murray, Michael Blygen, Michael Spence, Jermaine Allen, Denroy Gordon, Kwame Richardson.
Booked: Jackson (23rd), Hodges (57th), McCoy (63rd), Williamson (83rd).
Harbour View — Michard Barrett, Dicoy Williams, Montrose Phinn, Christopher Harvey, Daveion Woodhouse, Richard Edwards, John-Ross Edwards (Kemeel Wolfe 68th), Marcelino Blackburn (Romario Campbell 68th), Jermaine Hue, Andre Fagan, Jahmali Spence (Rafeik Thomas 60th).
Subs not used: Devon Haughton, Nicholas Beckett, Lamar Hodges, Ranique Muir.
Booked: Hue (55th).
Referee: Wilverglen Lamey
Assistant Referees: Garnet Page, Stacyann Greyson
Fourth Official: Oneal Clayton
Match Commissary: Anthony Cooke