Tivoli’s Bailey hails point against JPL leaders
AFTER TAKING a point from league leaders Dunbeholden in their Jamaica Premier League (JPL) match at Stadium East on Sunday, Tivoli Gardens technical director Glendon Bailey says his team continues to improve, and he is now confident that they can secure a playoff spot.
Atapharoy Bygrave headed the JPL leaders in front five minutes before half-time, but Rodico Wellington equalised from the penalty spot 13 minutes from time.
Bailey said the pressure would have been reversed if they had taken their chances early in the match, but after going in behind at half-time, he knew it would require an extra effort to get a result.
“At half-time I reminded them when we were three goals down in the first half against a different opponent, and we were able to get back.
“We made some adjustments, and I told them to take it one step at a time, and they believed in what I said and started to show the effort on the field.
“We knew it would take a lot of guts and determination to at least come away with a point, and we did that, and we are pleased with what we achieved.
“If we had scored first it would have been different. It would have put the opponent on the back foot, especially the top team in the country,” he said.
He added:“Tivoli are now unbeaten in six games, and if we could turn some of those one-point games into three points, we would be much better off.
CONFIDENCE
“We are in the top six for now, and we must keep fighting, but we are grateful because we are improving and playing with more confidence,” he said.
The point lifted Tivoli to 22 points and seventh place in the standings. Harbour View are now in sixth spot with 23 points after yesterday’s 2-0 win over Portmore.
Tivoli started the brighter of the teams and had a number of chances to go ahead, best of which fell to Steven Barnett, who failed to make contact from five yards with the goal at his mercy.
Minutes later, the St Catherine-based Dunbeholden went ahead when Bygrave headed home from a free-kick in the 40th minute.
After the break, Dunbeholden improved, but Tivoli continued to be better. Bygrave came close to adding to his team’s tally, but his shot was parried wide for a corner.
Tivoli got their penalty when a foul was committed inside the 18-yard box and Rodico Wellington slotted home the spot kick for the equaliser in the 77th minute.
Warner Brown almost gave Tivoli full points late in the match, but he failed to put his effort on target from 12 yards.
Dunbeholden coach Ricardo Smith said both the performance and result were disappointing.
“We are disappointed with our game. It wasn’t our best game. Tivoli had some good chances to score, but we got a point which put us three ahead of Waterhouse. If they win on Monday, we will be tied on points. But we are not worried about anything. We will pull up our socks and come again,” he said.
Dunbeholden lead the standings with 39 points, three more than Waterhouse, who play Humble Lion today at the Stadium East field at 5 p.m. Mount Pleasant and Molynes United will meet in the feature at 7.15 p.m.