Lions humble Tivoli

Richard Bryan, Gleaner Writer

Woolry Wolfe scored on debut to give relegation-threatened Humble Lions a 1-0 win over leaders Tivoli Gardens, in their Digicel Premier League football match at Effortville Community Centre yesterday.

Wolfe, one of five changes to the starting 11 - courtesy of new signings from the January transfer window - scored within 30 seconds of the start and before most spectators had taken their seats.

Goalkeeper Edsel Scott appeared surprised and was slow to react to a speculative shot from 25 yards, the ball veering out of his reach the moment he allowed it to bounce.

Among those appearing in the new-look Clarendon side were Wolfe's former teammates at Benfica, Carlington Smith and defender Devon Powell, and the Waterhouse pair of veteran striker Kevin Lamey and midfielder Mark Miller. Add goalkeeper Christopher Louden, promoted from the Under-21 set-up, and the home side looked like a revamped unit.

He produced the best save of the game, diving full stretch to parry a Navion Boyd 20-yard cracker.

Lost ground

While the new strike pair of Lamey and Smith did not gel enough to cause the problems at the other end like Roland Dean and Boyd, they did enough to get the applause of the home spectators, who have watched the team lose considerable ground with three third-round losses.

Smith ran at and took on defenders, while Lamey did not get any clear opportunities to score, but his skill in holding up the ball was on show for the 80 minutes he played.

The new additions seemed to be the tonic coach Lenworth Hyde Sr needed and he was already talking about making the most of the six remaining games in the round.

"We were not getting rhythm and composure and from what I see, we have a side that can win games and get into the top six," he told The Gleaner.

His opposite number, Glendon 'Admiral' Bailey, was very agitated about the level of officiating and could hardly contain his composure during the post-match interview.

"I am very disappointed as apart from the early glitches, we created so many chances to score," he said. "Both Dean and Boyd came close to scoring . We had them on the ropes and just couldn't find the the net."