KINGSTON, Jamaica—Following a 4-0 thrashing of Vere United in the return leg quarterfinal of their Jamaica Premiere League match on Wednesday, Tivoli Gardens Technical Director Glendon “Admiral” Bailey is admitting that the club is performing better than expected.

In his post-match press conference following their victory, Bailey revealed that based on the composition of the squad at the start of their campaign, there was very little expectation within the organisation.

“When we started the early part of the season with so many players overseas, and so many left the club and we got this young crop of players, it was our intention to grow and to build for next season,” he shared.

He admitted that the young players have surprised the management team, especially with their early-season showing that kept the club in contention when several senior players were unavailable.

“It even surprised us as coaches how quickly this team responded and they responded well. They take instructions well and I think that is what is paying off now, so we are pleased. When the league started and we saw what was happening around the league, we knew that we could have gotten to where we are now, but before we were quite content to just give the youngsters the experience going forward,” he added.

Tivoli Gardens is now into the semi-finals of the Premiere League.

Players such as Horatio Morgan, who has so far scored four goals, including the only hat-trick of the 2020-2021 season, and Romaine Bowers, are expected to factor into the plans of the club in a big way going forward.

The two have been given reduced minutes with the arrival of more senior players late in the season but they combined on Wednesday to produce the third goal of the game as Morgan fired home a side-foot volley at the near post, directly from a corner kick taken by Bowers.

The young players are expected to form the nucleus of the squad of the next season.

“We have a nice crop of young players to build on come next season, but we are trying now to go as far as possible for the rest of this season,” Bailey said, adding that the partnership between himself and head coach Phillip Williams is proving to be a perfect combination for the West Kingston-based team.

“Coach Williams and I work well together, we listen to each other, we share ideas and I will be here to give him the support that he needs.”