ST. JOHN'S, CANA :
TIVOLI Gardens whipped Strikers of Dominica 5-3 at the Antigua Recreation Grounds on Sunday but it was not enough to get them into the next round of the CONCACAF club championships.
The Jamaican club battled back from a 3-0 deficit after 50 minutes with an excellent second half performance but it was W-Connection of Trinidad and Tobago who qualified for the finals of the championship after a hard-fought 3-3 draw with Antigua's champions Empire in the last match of the Group III play-offs.
The results meant that W-Connection, Empire and Tivoli Gardens of Jamaica all finished the tournament with five points each.
However, the Trinidad-based professional side qualified by virtue of a superior goal difference.
They scored 15 goals including 11 without reply against Strikers of Dominica, the other team in the group, and conceded four compared to Empire's 10-4 and Tivoli's 7-5 record.
A hat trick by diminutive substitute striker David King inspired Tivoli's comeback after the Strikers led 2-0 at half-time in the opening match.
King threw himself forward to head in his first after 61 minutes to make it 3-2 and then he curled a low shot into the far corner from the edge of the area to put Tivoli 4-3 ahead with seven minutes to go.
He still had time to side-foot home the fifth from Norston Allen cross from the left into an empty goal on the stroke of the full time to seal the issue.
In between King's strikes, acting captain and Jamaican international Jermaine Johnson, who played as sweeper back, scored Tivoli's first goal from the penalty spot in the 57th minute.
Amos Israel got the equaliser with a ferocious left-booter in the 77th minute.
Earlier, Strikers went ahead 2-0 through striker Ludwig Bertrand after 28 minutes and midfielder Carson Larocque, seven minutes later.
Five minutes on resumption, the Dominicans extended their advantage when the dangerous Vincent Cassimir rifled home from the penalty spot.
But the Jamaicans showed their superior technical skills and ability in the remaining 40 minutes to steal their only win of the group to finish on five points.
In the feature which was tied 1-1 at half-time, W-Connection came back three times to force a draw.
Empire's veteran striker Andy Nesbitt gave the home side the lead when he latched onto a loose ball and hit past the advancing goalkeeper Anthony Clarke in the 36th minute.
But on the stroke of half-time, striker Jose Maria Manoel fired St. Lucian Earl Jean's right-side cross into the roof of the net from close range for the equaliser.
A minute after the re-start Empire went ahead again as striker Conrad Whyte shot home from a scramble inside the box.
Manoel and Jean once again combined for the equaliser in the 66th minute as the St. Lucian crossed from the right for Manoel to head in his second of the match and seventh of the competition.
Two minutes later, midfielder Darren Richards scored his third goal in as many matches with a low, diving header from Vernon Edwards' Jr. left-sided cross.
W-Connection stormed back and within a couple of minutes they were level again.
This time Jean registered his first goal of the tournament when he nodded home Jose Luiz Seabra Jr's free-kick after Jean was fouled just outside the area.
