Tivoli lift DPL crown

West Kingston team beat Boys' Town in tough decider to lift record fifth title

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

Tivoli Gardens joined Santos as the most successful teams at the national league level yesterday, after clipping neighbours Boys' Town 1-0 to claim their fifth hold on the Digicel Premier League (DPL) title.

Tivoli entered the final round in the 2010-11 Digicel Premier League round of matches with a one-point lead over their rivals, thus needing only to avoid defeat to claim the title. However, they garnered all three points courtesy of a 45th-minute strike from Navion Boyd.

The win saw the champions finish on 72 points, four more than Boys' Town (68).

Glendon 'Admiral' Bailey, coach of Tivoli, was naturally delighted to have won his second DPL title.

"It is big joy to come back and win it right away after a two-year break," said Bailey, a popular musician who resumed top-flight coaching with a return to Tivoli this season.

"For the entire season, we have been battling. A lot of people doubted us in the last (part), but we stuck together as a team and we worked hard," he added.

Despite needing only a draw to reclaim the title, which they lost to Harbour View last season, Bailey said he sent his team into battle with an offensive mindset.

"The best line of defence is offence, so I told the guys that we are not going to sit back and allow them (Boys' Town) to play, we are going to put the fight to them, and it worked," Bailey shared.

Tivoli, especially in the first half, really did not allow Boys' Town toplay, as they marked their opponents closely in a hard-tackling, competitive encounter that was not pretty on the eyes.

The game, played at breakneck speed, on many occasions represented a foot-volley contest, with either team jostling to either kick or head the ball as far as possible in the direction opposite their goal.

Boys' Town, for the most part, pushed the offensives, but Tivoli were always on the lookout for the counter and were dangerous on occasion.

Tivoli carved out the first chance in the fifth minute when Keammar Daley played a beautiful through pass to Boyd, but Boys' Town's custodian, Kirk Porter, was quick off his line to thwart the effort.

Boys' Town's best chance of the game fell to their captain, Michael Campbell, in the 34th minute. A square by Fabian Francis from the left flank eluded Tivoli's keeper, Edsel Scott, and found an unmarked Campbell on the back post, but he was unable to keep his effort down, sending the ball over the empty goal.

The Red Brigade were made to pay for the missed opportunity almost immediately, as Boyd collected a ball in the area and in one motion turned away from his marker, Daemon Benjamin, before unleashing an unstoppable shot, which hit the left upright on its way into the goal.

better unit

Boys' Town looked a better unit in the second half as they largely kept the ball on the floor and moved it around, but found the Tivoli defence impenetrable, even though they went close to scoring twice.

Campbell hit an effort from 25 yards, which drifted just wide of the right upright; then substitute Renae Lloyd turned on a dice and drove a powerful left-footer that went across an unresponsive Edsel Scott and just wide of his upright, causing Tivoli to breathe a sigh of relief.

Boys' Town's coach, Andrew Price, who played central defence on their last winning team 21 years ago, was gracious in defeat.

"We came up short today; we didn't play particularly well, and the one chance that Tivoli got they took it," a very disappointed Price expressed.

"Credit must be given to Tivoli Gardens as they have been the most consistent team for the entire season and were deserving winners," he added.