Edwards pleased with time at Tivoli

Departing Tivoli Gardens Football Club head coach, Omar Edwards, believes he is leaving the west Kingston side in good stead after three seasons in charge of the former Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) champions.

Edwards, who sat on the sidelines for the final time, in Tivoli’s 1-1 draw with Dunbeholden FC at Royal Lakes yesterday, however, remained coy about his next destination, only offering that more information will be revealed this week.

“This is actually my last game,” he said. “I was asked to see out this one. For us, it (the season) has been up and down. We have managed to play some players through injury and they gave it their all. I believe the players have played for me and the Tivoli Football Club.

“I want to acknowledge the president of Tivoli Gardens (Edward Seaga), who has believed in me and taught me a lot outside of football. I am very grateful for that.

“This is my third season with them, and in my first season, we finished in the top six, in the second season we finished in the top six. We have won the Jackie Bell back-to-back and Tivoli has certainly come back to life. We have played some attractive football at times and that is a plus for the team going forward,” he said.

Tivoli started the better of the teams, but the home team came back strong in the second stage of the first-half, and could have taken the lead. But it was the visitors who went ahead just before the halftime break when Jermaine ‘Teddy’ Johnson smashed home a peach of a goal from just inside the area.

But the hosts came out and deservedly got the equaliser, albeit due to some dubious defending by Rushane Facey, who allowed Richard Orrett to set up Narado Brown for the equaliser on 74 minutes.

Dunbeholden manager Paul Christie said every point is valuable in the fight against relegation. “We would have loved to get all three points. But it is the business end of the season now and every point is important,” he said.

Tivoli dropped to seventh with 35 points. While Dunbeholden stayed 10th on 24.

Yesterday's RSPL scores:Dunbeholden 1-1 Tivoli GardensMount Pleasant 2-0 Montego BayReno 1-2 Arnett GardensHumble Lion 0-2 PortmoreHarbour View 1-3 Waterhouse