Tivoli Gardens not getting carried away by form
Abrace from Stephen Barnett saw Tivoli Gardens FC continue their climb up the Jamaica Premier League ( JPL) table with a 2-0 victory over Montego Bay United ( MBU) at Drax Hall yesterday.
Tivoli got their opening goal in the 24th minute from a concentration lapse by MBU, with Barnett finding the back of the net less than 30 seconds after play resumed after a forced MBU substitution because of injury.
Barnett added his second and sealed the game for Tivoli 10 minutes into the second half.
Tivoli assistant coach Jermaine Johnson is pleased with the team’s form.
“It’s always a good feeling when you’re winning and climbing up the ladder,” he said. “We still have to just keep taking it one game at a time and keep focused out there.
“The playoffs is always in our sights. The players are confident and know that this is a chance to be up there.”
Tivoli are enjoying their best run of
form for the season, putting together back-to-back wins now in a five-game unbeaten run. Johnson attributes this good form to the training they have been putting in recently.
“I think our training has a lot to do with it,” he said. “We try to get things right from there. We try to defend well and score the goals when we get them, so I think everything is going well.”
MBU coach
Leacroft Lettman criticised his team’s concentration level and says they need to assess their psychological approach.
“We started the game playing well, but again, concentration let us down,” he said. “This keeps happening in the crucial areas. We are not getting the ball away from the danger zone in crunch times, and that’s where goals are being scored against us.
“We have been trying to get right the mental aspect of the training. I’m trying to get the players to talk more and analyse themselves in games. We might have to get a psychologist to come in and fix that problem.”
In the other game in the double header, table toppers Dunbeholden defeated hosts Mount Pleasant 3- 1.