Tivoli Gardens Football Club head coach Phillip Williams was in a positive mood after securing a 0-0 draw against the highly fancied Mount Pleasant FA in the opening game of the 2020-2021 Jamaica Premier League season.

Forced to play a young team after injuries depleted his squad ahead of the start of the season, Williams was thankful to get the season off on what he believed was a positive note, considering the circumstances.

“We did not lose, so we definitely have to give thanks for the point we got. It’s a very young team… with Teddy (Jermaine Johnson) being the elder leading them out there. The blend worked for us.”

He was, however, surprised that his players were able to match the St Ann-based team for fitness in the early afternoon kick-off.

“In terms of our level of fitness, it was very surprising to see us matching, for the most part, Mount Pleasant, step by step and in terms of chances created, I think we also created chances that we could have put away the game, but a point from [the game] is one that we accept.”

Players seemed to struggle a bit with the heat at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, but Williams thought that it was not excessive.

“In terms of preparation, we expected some of the guys to go down today with cramps and other injuries. To me, the number of times we went down was within the acceptable range for us. The players were able to pace themselves wisely and see through the 90 minutes plus.”

Williams thought his players acquitted themselves well and believes that careful team selection was the reason they were able to avoid defeat on the opening day, after showing up with just 17 available players.

“We have some injuries that we have been nursing that occurred during training sessions. We came rather short today in terms of personnel, but we chose the squad wisely in terms of the players that we wanted out there and the youngsters that have been performing in training. I must lift my hat to those youngsters, they really did well and it looks good for us going forward.”

While hailing the team effort he did single out a few players who, he thought, stood out on the day.

“Young (Trevavne) McCain at left back really did well, Anthony Nelson up front as the striker really did well, Andre Smith as the defensive midfielder, he held his own to say the least, and there are others; it’s a complete team effort and there are others that really did well out there.”

According to the current fixtures, Tivoli Gardens will next play Arnett Gardens who were idle on match day one after the sudden late withdrawal of the UWI FC from the competition. That game is scheduled for Monday, June 5, at the same venue, starting at 1:00 pm.

— Dwayne Richards