Tivoli rebound in style

Tivoli Gardens shrugged off last week’s first defeat of the season to Racing United and responded with a workmanlike 3-0 win over Dunbeholden in the Legend Jamaica Premier League (JPL) game at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex yesterday.

Former Tivoli player Odean Pennycooke gifted the home team with an own goal in first-half stoppage time before second-half goals from Ajuma Johnson (90+4) and Barrington Pryce (90+6) sealed the win for the Andrew Price-coached team, who are fourth in the table with 11 points, the same as third-placed Waterhouse and fifth-placed Tru-Juice.

“We had to fight for the 90-plus minutes, but it is good to see the resilience of the team.

“Dunbeholden, coming off their first win, really wanted to come and get something out of the game, but we showed our resillience. Showed our character.

“We led 1-0, courtesy of an own goal, but our substitutions late in the second half killed off the game,” he added.

Fresh off their first win of the season last week against Molynes, Dunbeholden started positive and had some good looks in the first period, which they failed to make the most of.

They were made to pay for their indecisiveness in front of goal, as just before the interval, Pennycooke inadvertently redirected the ball past his advancing goalkeeper for the opener.

After the break Tivoli had more control and had the better opportunities for a goal, but Dunbeholden’s Clive Wedderburn had the best chance but could not beat Nicholas Clarke from three yards.

In second-half injury time, Johnson broke behind the Dunbeholden defence and hit a low shot across the goalkeeper to put his team 2-0 up.

Pryce put a little more gloss on the win, when he fired home from the spot after a foul two minutes later.

Dunbeholden sit 12th in the table on three points, one point outside the relegation zone.

Alex Thomas, Dunbeholden coach, said they had the chances to get a better result from the game.

“The scoreline doesn’t reflect the game, but kudos to Tivoli, they did what they had to do to win the game. However, at this level you have to score your chances because goals win matches, “ he stated.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com