Tivoli hammer Denham Town 18-1

"I NEVER expected us to do so well," said Tivoli Gardens Comprehensive's coach Dave Clarke.

"We were demotivated after losing to Spanish Town in the last match," were the words of Denham Town's coach Dennis Hutchinson.

Others whispered "it was a sell-out. Denham Town let dem go".

Either way Tivoli, despite playing one man short, are through to the second round of the Pepsi Manning Cup schoolboy football competition after thrashing Denham Town 18-1 in their Pepsi Manning Cup game at Railway Oval yesterday.

Mardio McCarthy scored in the 26th and 35th minutes to give the former champions a 2-0 lead at half-time, but the Denham Town defence opened up midway the second half, giving Tivoli leeway to do the unthinkable.

McCarthy netted two more times in the second half for a tally of four goals, but the scoring honours belonged to Rafiek Thomas, who scored five goals in the second half alone after a very frustrating start.

Also getting their names on the scoresheet were Orane Simpson, who scored a hat-trick, Fitzroy McIntosh two goals, while Neil Drummond, Michael Gayle, Nicholas Carey and substitute Vivian Lobban netted one apiece.

Tivoli were determined to make it through and ears were kept close to the ground listening for the result between St. Andrew Technical (STATHS) and St. Jago over at Tinson Pen.

Both teams had 19 points going into the match with Tivoli scoring two more goals than STATHS to be ahead on a better goal average.

When news reached Railway that STATHS was leading St. Jago 6-0 in the other Group 'E' match, putting them ahead of Tivoli and giving them a scent of qualifying, the orange and black-clad team went on the attack, firing shot after shot past Denham Town's Nicardo Hamilton in goal.

"We started out playing offense and not much defence. There was a definite breakdown in our defence and the midfield wasn't contributing either," a not too depressed Hutchinson said.

Now that Tivoli have advanced, Clarke hopes that they will continue their scoring ways.

"I'm happy for the result. I'm very surprised with how the team performed. They exceeded my expectations. Now that we are into the next round, we have to continue to score in order to remain competitive," he said.

Meanwhile, all 12 qualifiers were determined for the second round after yesterday's round of matches.

Qualifying from Group "A" are defending champions Norman Manley and Holy Trinity, from Group "B" Wolmer's and Waterford, from Group "C" Jamaica College and Bridgeport, from Group "D" Charlie Smith and Kingston College, from Group "E" Spanish Town and Tivoli and from Group "F" Jonathan Grant and Camperdown.

Back to Sport