Members of Tivoli Gardens Football Club celebrate after defeating St Georges 2-0 to win the end of First Round title at the National Stadium last Sunday. - File

NO one expected the first round of the Digicel Premier League (DPL) to end on such a farcical note: a disallowed goal that really should have counted; an extremely debatable penalty; and a shout for another penalty that was disallowed, which really should have been given.

A final that had been shaping up as a really hot battle, on the basis of the even finish by Kingston's Tivoli Gardens and St Georges Sports Club, thrust anguish upon the throng of Portland hopefuls backing their young premier league team which, coincidentally, found themselves on the receiving end of referee Raymond Bogle's dubious calls. Not surprisingly, they lost 0-2.

Their coach, Braxton Hyre, chose to look at the brighter side.

"We are happy we are here and we will just put this aside and move on. Congratulations to Tivoli," Hyre said in a Gleaner interview.

"It's a win-win for us. We may not have won in terms of the result but it's a learning process and we took a lot away from this game in terms of knowing where we need to improve and strengthen."

Scoring: definitely.

The fourth-season top-flight club rattled in 12 goals to win seven of its 11 matches, on their way to a joint table-topping 24 points with Tivoli Gardens. At the defensive end, they could not have been much better, conceding a mere three prior to Sunday's final, a bonus game really.

Tivoli, the defending champions, made full use of the opportunity and helped themselves to the lion's share of the winning trophy and the half-million dollar cash prize.

Though fortuitous, the west Kingston club played well enough to earn their stake as they were the more dominant team, much due to the type of attacking with which they floored seven of 11 opponents - many in authoritative fashion - throughout the round as they piled up a league-leading 22 goals ahead of the bonus match.

championship

It brought seven victories and what Tivoli will view as a stepping stone towards their larger goal of retaining the championship.

"They know they have to work even harder in the second round," noted Tivoli's coach, Lenworth Hyde Sr, in a post-game interview published Tuesday in The Gleaner.

"It won't be difficult to keep them grounded, they understand what they need to do. They set themselves targets and know what is required of them," he added. "As coaches, we have to ensure that they know the seriousness of successfully defending our title, so we have to keep motivating them and try to keep them focused on the task at hand."

Also fuelling Tivoli's desire is a determination to honour fallen soldier Oraine Simpson, one of the club's national representatives, who succumbed to a knife wound following an altercation with a man in his community.

Other clubs are motivated by different reasons and they will no doubt be looking to have their say.

Chief among them is Harbour View, which shrugged aside a frustrating start of four tied finishes, before gradually accelerating to notch the second-highest goal tally (17) and sneak up on the front-running duo, two adrift with 22 points.

Some teams had almost equally frustrating starts, like Boys' Town, who drew their first four and lost the fifth; Village United, the Trelawny team that drew five of its opening six fixtures; and Spanish Town team Rivoli United, which drew 75 per cent of its opening quartet.

Boys' Town, as their complement strengthened, have improved to now lie fourth, while Rivoli and Village have made a tumble amid the realisation that more Ws are needed on the board to contend for the title.

It includes risks, for which attacking-minded teams Arnett Gardens, Waterhouse and Sporting Central Academy were taking a hit because all facets of their game were not clicking at one point or the other.

Clarendon's Sporting, a youthful and enterprising bunch, started promisingly and were nestled in just behind Tivoli Gardens on the lead. However, they took a turn for the worse and crashed to five straight defeats.

Arnett opened their campaign this season in similar fashion to the last, when they went pointless in four. This time they fared one worse, failing to buck a point in five matches.

losses

Waterhouse were the same, but suffered heavily in the boardroom by being docked a point and hacked with two three-goal losses from using Desmond Breakenridge in a couple of matches when his registration from Arnett Gardens was incomplete.

The Drewsland club gave an exec the boot for the slip and with the addition of its core bunch, who were not quite fit and ready at the start, Waterhouse, like Arnett, made a strong rebound in the second half of the round.

Rivoli's golden boot man, Devon Hodges, has begun to find his range and so, too, his club, while newcomers Humble Lions and August Town are facing the hard grind characteristic of promoted teams.

The latter's coach, Calvert Fitzgerald, would have given himself a little breathing room with two victories in their last four fixtures, as his team climbed off the bottom of the ladder. Other coaches like Arnett's Fabian Davis, Waterhouse's Geoffrey Maxwell and Humble Lions' Christopher Bender would have faced a similar plight at some stage throughout the round and know full well that their job is not done.

Not to mention Portmore United, the traditional powerhouse that has literally been left behind with a thoroughly uncharacteristic start.

If they dream of regaining the title they lost by the slimmest of margins - goal difference - to Tivoli last season, they had better start pumping and hope they are not beset by the dubious calls that transformed what should have been a wonderful first-round climax into a farce.

Tivoli Gardens' coach Lenworth Hyde Sr: "They know they have to work even harder in the second round. It won't be difficult to keep them grounded, they understand what they need to do. They set themselves targets and know what is required of them."

Tivoli Gardens' Victor Thompson (right) battles for possession of the ball with St Georges' Ricardo Scott during the Digicel Premier League end of First Round Final at the National Stadium last Sunday.