CHAMPIONS Tivoli Gardens capitalised on a one-man advantage to beat arch rivals Arnett Gardens 2-1 in their National Premier League (NPL) match at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex yesterday.

Mitchily Waul notched both goals for the visiting Tivoli Gardens in the 56th and 72nd minutes, while captain Kirk Ramsey responded for Arnett Gardens with a stunning shot on the turn in the 79th minute.

Tivoli Gardens, with their second win from two games, moved to six points into joint first with Waterhouse and Portmore United, while Arnett Gardens remained on three points.

Winning coach Glendon Bailey said he was happy for the three points, but disappointed with his team’s inability to put away a team playing with 10 men for 72 minutes.

“We know it was a hard team and we expected a hard fight, but what disappointed me was in the first half when Arnett went down to 10 players and we got impatience and started to rush the game,” lamented Bailey.

“We talked about it for the second half and the most important thing is that we dug deep and came away with the points,” he added.

Arnett coach Paul ‘Tegat’ Davis said his team didn’t show up for the occasion. “The players that we were looking for didn’t step up, they sat back and watched and we could have drawn or won this game,” said the former national striker.

In front of a packed venue, Tivoli Gardens’ new signee, Waul, nodded home after goalkeeper Julian McLeish failed to hold onto a Marcelino Blackburn free-kick in the 56th minute.

Prior to that, Arnett lost striker Newton Sterling, who was given a straight red for a rash challenge in the 19th minute, leaving his team with too much to do.

Waul then doubled Tivoli’s advantage in the 72nd tapping home from close range after Kemar Flemming’s cross deflected into his path.

Last season’s top scorer Ramsey got the goal of the match with a beautiful shot from 20 metres which left goalkeeper Edsel Scott rooted to the spot.