This is the type of football we want at Tivoli - Seaga

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

President of the Tivoli Gardens Football Club, Edward Seaga, was full of praise for his players and technical staff in the aftermath of his team's 5-1 mauling of Waterhouse, in the Digicel Premier League's first end-of-round final, inside the National Stadium on Sunday night.

The four-time champions were merciless in their push for honours, unceremoniously dismissing the league leaders through goals from Keammar Daley (seventh minute), Jameel Thompson (27th), Devon Hodges (62nd), Roland Dean (68th) and Kwame Richardson (89th).

Vincent Earle scored a 73rd-minute consolation from the penalty spot for Waterhouse.

Seaga, who last year relieved the much-celebrated Lenworth Hyde Sr from his post as head coach of the club after the team finished behind Harbour View in the league standings, hailed his team's style of play and paid tribute to returning tactician Glendon 'Admiral' Bailey, who led the team to success in the 2003-2004 season.

"I think we have a wonderful team now on all levels. In terms of the coaches and also the players, of course," Seaga beamed after the game. "You can see the difference in the quality of the play."

Seaga highlighted the team's enterprising and attractive play as a model that they are hoping to make their own.

"I do want to say that this is the kind of football that we want and I don't mean 5-1 football every week, but I'm speaking to the quality of football that was shown here tonight (Sunday night).

"The team played very well," Seaga pointed out. "With the little rest that we got we were able to do some more practice and put in some more work in the middle of the field, especially on our short passes and that paid off very handsomely."

Tivoli were also successful in last season's first end-of-round final, beating St Georges Sports Club 2-0, but faded as the league progressed.

However, Tivoli's captain, Kasai Hinds, is determined to put that experience behind, already looking towards the next round with a view of extending his team's positive run.

"We are definitely looking for better things for the next round and this was just a sneak peek of what is to come," said a confident-sounding Hinds. "We have a whole lot of work to do and I can say safely that everyone can expect even greater things from Tivoli Gardens this season."

Coach Bailey is also mindful of the work that remains to be done, hoping they can remain focused for tomorrow's rescheduled game against Humble Lion at Effortville Community Centre in Clarendon.

"That is a game that we are taking very seriously. As a matter of fact we take every game seriously," he said.

"This is a points tally competition, so every point is important. So whether it be Humble Lion or humble cat, we just have to go there to play a serious game. It's a game that will allow us the chance to catch Waterhouse in the standings, so I hope we'll be able to turn up on Wednesday with our 'A' game," Bailey stated.

In the meantime, Waterhouse captain, Richard McCallum, was in a sombre mood following the defeat and shared that his team was still in shock.

"The players have taken this loss really hard, even myself. I'm still wondering what happened and how we lost 5-1," he revealed. "Nevertheless it's a part of the game, we just have to pull our socks up and move on.

"We are at this point the leaders of the Digicel Premier League and hopefully Tivoli Gardens won't win their next match against Humble Lion," said McCallum.