Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer

Former champions Tivoli Gardens were forced to settle for shared points in a second consecutive fixture, when they were held to a 1-1 draw with August Town in their Cash Plus Premier League match at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex yesterday.

In front of a sizeable crowd that braved the inclement weather, it was the less-fancied August Town that gave glimpses of their intention to score early in the game.

However, they would not reap their due reward until the 42nd minute when Rollin Francis, who went down to his former team Boy's Town in their opening fixture, beat his marker and gave his team the lead.

The game would continue along at a brisk pace and the home team would soon find themselves level. Tivoli left back Christopher Jackson would be the one to pull his team back into the game in the 51st minute. After getting by two opponents, Jackson fired past August Town's custodian Devon Haughton, who was compre-hensively beaten.

Inroads

In the entertaining game, both teams continued to make several inroads into each other's respective goal areas. However, faulty finishing kept the match locked in a stalemate until the final whistle.

Calvert Fitgerald of August Town was satisfied with his team's performance.

"We played a team game today and this result shows that we are ready for the bigger teams," he said. "However, we wanted to beat them in their backyard but this is encouraging for the young team."

The stalemate was a disap-pointing one for Tivoli coach Glendon 'Admiral' Bailey.

"I am very disappointed that the team did not win today," he said. "It is also disapointing that we are being seen as the team that is always coming from behind."

In other games, promoted St. George's of Portland registered a 2-1 win over Trelawny's Village United at Lynch Park, Buff Bay.

Omar Brissett (penalty, 27th) and Ricahdo Taylor (53rd) scored for the homesters, while Fabian Dawkins (47th) netted for Village.

Meanwhile, Jamaica's Reggae Girlz, led by four goals from Tashanna Vincent, ended their first round Caribbean zone Olympic qualifying competition in fine style yesterday by drubbing Dominica 8-0 in their final match, in Antigua. The Jamaicans finished with maximum nine points, having won their opening games against Bermuda (4-0) and Antigua (11-0).

Tivoli Gardens 1

Christopher Jackson 51st

August Town 1

Rollin Francis 42nd