Vere earn JPL draw with 12-man squad

Former National player now coach Linval Dixon began life in the Jamaica Premier League with new club Vere United under somewhat bizarre circumstances, but they still earned a 1-1 draw with Tivoli Gardens in the opening game of the 2022-2023 season.

When Dixon turned up at the Wembley Centre of Excellence, he was told that he would only have 12 players at his disposal, and when quizzed about the unusual circumstances, he said: “To be honest, you have to ask management because I am not sure what happened. The last bit of info I got was that I would have the full complement of players, but when I came for the game, I only had 12.”

The Gleaner understands that seven players who were named on the match card, could not take part due to expired identification. It was further noted that some of the players were said to be in contract negotiations, which further complicated the issue.

Despite the foul-up, Dixon and his 12 players were able to carve out a point against the Jermaine Johnson-coached Tivoli Gardens team.

STRONG START

Vere started strongly, and their constant pressure would eventually bear fruit in the 13th minute when Ricardo Dennis jumped high inside the area to head home a right-sided corner from Tavis Grant.

Inexplicably, Vere took the foot off the gas for the remainder of the half, which allowed Tivoli to come back into the game with a few telling attacks of their own.

Vere went into the halftime break with the lead, but on the resumption, Tivoli kept coming at them, which put the tiring Vere defence under immense pressure.

With a few substitutions to allow fresh legs, Tivoli continued to press, and they would get their just reward when one of the substitutes, Diego McKenzie, turned his marker and rifled home a right-footed shot from inside the area in the 77th minute.

Tivoli had numerous chances to seal all three points, but a valiant defensive effort from Vere ensured that it was honours even after the opening fixture of the new season.

“I must take my hat off to my team who showed character and fought hard, and hopefully, we can rectify the player’s issue for the next game,” said Dixon.

Assistant coach of Tivoli Gardens, Dwayne Blake, said his team deserved to win the game.

“I would say it is two points dropped. If we were more clinical in front of goal, we would have gotten three points, but there were a few nerves in the first game,” Blake said.