Howard Walker, Staff Reporter

Tivoli Gardens rushed into the Western Union/KSAFA Jackie Bell KO semi-final with a comprehensive 3-1 beating of Santos at the Bell Chung Oval yesterday.

Two goals by Richard West in the 26th and 51st minutes along with Oraine Simpson's 10th-minute strike was enough for Tivoli Gardens.

Santos' captain Fabian Nether-sole scored a consolation goal in the 67th minute to briefly lift his team's hope of a comeback.

The game started at a fast pace and it should have been over by half time but for poor shooting from the visiting Tivoli Gardens.

After the speedy Simpson opened the scoring in the 10th minute, Tivoli missed a series of chances with Roland Dean, Jermaine Taylor and Simpson.

Winning coach Calvert Fitzgerald said he expected nothing less than an easy victory against a team in a lower division.

Prepared

Said Fitzgerald: "We didn't come here expecting a hard game or to lose the match because we came prepared to give 100 per cent. We are playing in the higher division and not doing badly, then we must be a good team so I didn't think Santos would be able to keep up with us for 90 minutes.

Fitzgerald's only disappointment was that his team conceded a goal after missing several chances.

"Ever since I came to Tivoli, I have been working on not conceding goals. We always try to keep a clean sheet and we didn't want a Super League team to score on us," noted Fitzgerald.

Meanwhile, Carlton 'Spanner' Dennis, coach of Santos, was satisfied with his team's second-half performance.

Bad first half

Said Dennis: "We had a bad first half giving up two soft goals, but I think after that we played very well. I wanted to go to the semi-final but the important thing is the Super League and the team showed me that they are gelling and they will be there at the finish."

He continued: "That is what I was pleased to see and in the last 30 minutes we were all over Tivoli and that can only augur well for the team."

Tivoli Gardens will now play defending champion Boys' Town in the semi-final on a date to be announced.

Waterhouse, which had two players sent off, also qualified for the semis by virtue of a 1-0 win against the Jamaica Defence Force at Up Park Camp. Brian Wollaston scored the winning goal at the 90th minute.

They will play the winner of the Harbour View-August Town match, that was postponed due to Harbour View's participation in the Caribbean Club Championships in Trinidad and Tobago.

Tivoli Gardens - 3

(Oraine Simpson 10th, Richard West 26th, 51st

Santos - 1

(Fabian Nethersole 67th)