Tivoli's Steve Green (left) challenges Seba's Lennox Whittingham for ball possession during yesterday's Premier League encounter at Railway Oval. Tivoli won 3-0. - Winston SillBy Nodley Wright, Staff Reporter
TIVOLI GARDENS yesterday closed the gap on leaders Harbour View to nine points in the National Premier League (NPL) following a 3-0 win over visitors Seba at Railway Oval.
Tivoli were the only team to win yesterday. Olympic Gardens and Waterhouse ended 1-1 at Cling Cling Oval while Constant Spring and Wadadah drew 2-2 at Herbert Morrison. Defending champions Harbour View were also involved in a stalemate, 2-2, with Reno at Frome.
Harbour View lead the standings with 49, followed by Tivoli with 40. Arnett Gardens, who were inactive, are next with 35, two ahead of Waterhouse who are just a point ahead of Constant Spring. Reno and Olympic Gardens have 29 and 23 points respectively while at the bottom end of the table are Wadadah with 22 points, Hazard with 21 and Seba 20.
With five rounds of matches to go, Hazard and Seba are in a slightly better position than Wadadah as Hazard have two outstanding games and Seba one.
At Railway Oval, relegation-threatened Seba United showed they can be a team of quality. Spurred on by the veteran Hector Wright in midfield they started out a competitive team.
Seba had the first opportunity on goal from forward Jermaine Anderson. The hard-running Anderson stole between sweeper Kasai Hinds and goalkeeper Edsel Scott to pick off a back pass which he fired just across the face of the goal. Stewart Clarke was set up with a clear shot at the Seba goal by his captain Steve Green in the 15th minute after picking off a bad pass from Wright. Clarke fired wide.
From then on the game progressed in an even manner with both teams having their chances and missing. The state of the game was to remain the same until the 33rd minute when Jermaine Johnson picked up the ball in his own half and dribbled towards the Seba goal with Anderson in pursuit.
Johnson made his way into the 18-yard box unhindered until he was about to shoot. He was then tripped by Scion McNish and referee Peter Prendergast awarded a penalty. Steve Green stepped up to give his team a 1-0 lead.
The second half was largely in favour of Tivoli Gardens.
Green added his second goal in the 66th minute when a square defence failed to pick him up as he raced on to a through pass out of midfield. He dribbled towards goal and blasted past a helpless Kenrick Picknight in goal. Four minutes later, an angry Green who was limping from cramps was replaced much to his disgust.
To show his displeasure, he took off his shirt on the field while cursing to himself and was duly yellow-carded for unsporting behaviour. He will miss their next game.
Substitute Dave Clarke completed the scoring in extra time from a pass from Nashan Allen, also a substitute.
RESULTS
Tivoli Gardens 3 Seba 0
Olympic Gardens 1 Waterhouse 1
Constant Spring 2 Wadadah 2
Reno 2 Harbour View 2
