Vere Phoenix woes continue
Published:Friday | February 21, 2025 | 12:12 AM
Vere Phoenix United slumped to their 14th defeat this season in the Wray and Nephew-sponsored Jamaica Premier League (JPL) as they were clipped 2-1 by Tivoli Gardens yesterday at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex.
It was a quick-fire contest between the two teams as all three goals came within the first 15 minutes of the game.
Janoi Williams opened the scoring for Tivoli in the fifth minute of play, and they quickly doubled their lead two minutes later when Tkiven Garnett added his name to the scoresheet.
Reggae Boy Tyreek Magee pulled one back for Vere Phoenix, but his goal in the 14th minute proved to be a consolation effort at the end.
The win sees Tivoli moving to 31 points in the standings and within touching distance of Waterhouse who sit sixth in the table with 34.
For Vere Phoenix, the result means that they remain just one place above the foot of the table with 19 points from 25 games played and are deeply entrenched in a relegation battle.
The Clarendon-based club have been enduring a poor run of form as they have only won once in the last 10 games, a run that also includes six defeats and three draws.
Vere Phoenix head coach Lenworth Hyde said despite the result, he believed that his players showed much improvement in their performance on the day.
“I think we played well. We played our system properly today, but we gave up two early goals. I think that was the setback in our team, but we persevered, and we went forward trying to get back the goals,” he explained after the match.
“We got back one, and we were pressing to get back the equaliser, but it wasn’t meant to happen today. I must lift my hat to my team because I think we played well. They tried their best and the intensity was high, but we just have to wheel and come again.”
Speaking on the team’s standing in the relegation zone, Hyde is not concerned as he believes that his team will survive the drop.
He explained that their only focus is on improving their teamwork on the training pitch and turning their fortunes around as the JPL approaches its final round of fixtures.
“We’re down there already so all we have to think about is how to come out, so we can’t let that be a pressure on us,” Hyde said.
“We just know that we have to win games and try step out of the relegation zone, so we can’t worry about that. We don’t want to instil that into any of the players’ heads so we don’t want to pressure them. We just want to train, get some camaraderie going, get some team spirit going and try and win some games.”
Mount Pleasant maintained their lead in the standings with 61 points following a 1-0 win over Chapelton Maroons.
Yesterday’s results
Tivoli 2-1 Vere Phoenix
Mount Pleasant 1-0 Chapelton Maroons
Humble Lion 2-1 Waterhouse
Cavalier 0-1 Harbour View
Montego Bay United 0-0 Racing United