Tivoli coach upbeat despite conceding late equaliser
Harbour View's Oshane Staple (right) tackles Tivoli Gardens' Anthony Thompson during the Jamaica Premier League match at Ashenheim Stadium on Sunday. (Photo: Karl McLarty)

With the last kick of the game, substitute Cristojaye Daley converted a penalty, enabling Harbour View to snatch a point in a dramatic 2-2 result against Tivoli Gardens at Ashenhiem Stadium on Sunday.

Defender Barrington Pryce had scored twice — in the seventh minute from the penalty spot and in the 71st — to put Tivoli Gardens on the cusp of their first victory in seven games, but this was snuffed out by a debatable penalty awarded by Referee Daneon Parchment in the dying seconds.

Daley duly converted in the 10th minute of stoppage time. Earlier, Timar Lewis had pulled Harbour View level at 1-1 when he headed home from a Demar Rose cross in the 24th minute.

It was an especially hard result for Tivoli Gardens, who were hoping to make a push toward the top six play-offs. They inched to 19 points but gained a spot to 10th.

Tivoli Gardens Assistant Coach Dwayne Blake said there were some positives.

"We saw a change in the team how they played. We saw determination so we just have to continue building on this now," said Blake.

Champions Harbour View stayed in fourth spot on 33 points, well in control of their play-off destiny. But Head Coach Ludlow Bernard wasn't pleased with his team's display.

"[I am] still disappointed with the nonchalant approach we took at the beginning of the game — and that is something we will have to address going forward," said Bernard.

"We have some very competitive games coming up and we can't afford to be starting games this way," he noted.

"I thought that we gave Tivoli too much room. And [for] a team that is on the ropes we needed to give them the knockout punch and we didn't seem interested at all in doing that, hence we had to fight at the latter part," said Bernard.

Montego Bay United and Vere United battled to a 3-3 draw at Wespow Park in St James.

Allen Ottey grabbed a brace for Montego Bay United, scoring in the fourth and 82nd minutes, while Donovan Brown scored in the 78th minute, giving new Coach Nedier Dos Santos a point in his first game in charge.

Montego Bay's winless streak is now up to nine games and they provisionally remained in ninth spot on 21 points, nine adrift of the last play-off spot.

Distin Cohen (44th), Romario Brown (68th) and Javier Brown (90+4) earned a share of the points for Vere United as they slowly inched away from the relegation zone, staying in 12th position on 15 points.

At Effortville Community Centre in Clarendon, Arnett Gardens came from behind in a 1-1 draw with Humble Lion and opened up a two-point lead atop of the Premier League on 38 points. Humble Lion slipped a spot to sixth on 30 points.

At Drewsland, home team Waterhouse turned back Mount Pleasant 2-0 to jump into fifth spot on 30 points courtesy of a superior goal difference over Humble Lion. Mount Pleasant, who suffered only their second defeat of the season, slipped a spot to third with 36 points.

SUNDAY'S RESULTS

Harbour View 2, Tivoli Gardens 2

Montego Bay 3, Vere 3

Humble Lion 1, Arnett Gardens 1

Waterhouse 2, Mount Pleasant 0

Dunbeholden 1, Portmore 3

BY HOWARD WALKER Observer writer

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