DPL title chase a true west Kingston affair

Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sports

LAST YEAR the Digicel Premier League title went to the eastern end of Kingston.

With Tivoli Gardens and Boys' Town involved in a neck-to-neck battle in what has boiled down to a two-horse race, the title is certain to shift to the other end of the city - west.

Both teams have two games, but Tivoli Gardens, with head coach Glendon 'Admiral' Bailey at the helm with his assistant, Alvin Shaw, hold the advantage - both in terms of points and goal difference - over their neighbours from the other side of Spanish Town Road, Boys' Town, who are coached by Andrew Price.

The orange and black standard bearers lead the points standing on 68 points, three clear of Boys' Town, as both are involved in a gargantuan challenge for the crown.

Interestingly, the two teams have one thing in common as both are many-time champions; Tivoli Gardens winning on four occasions and Boys' Town thrice.

Boys' Town's supporters, though, are longing for success having last tasted success in 1988-89, when they beat Montego Bay's Seba United to lift their last title.

Like their previous two championship crowns, that victory was earned under the stewardship of Carl Brown, the former national senior team head coach and technical director.

Prior to that, Boys' Town had also won in 1985-86 and 1983-84, a period when they were quite dominant, as they had also lost the 1986-87 final - to Seba United, which represented the first time ever that a non-Corporate Area team was winning the title.

In those days coach Brown, Lenworth 'Teacher' Hyde, Herbert 'Dago' Gordon, Hugh 'UU' Bailey, Thomas McLean, the original long thrower, the Hardware brothers - Milton and Devon and Ali McNab, were some of the Red Brigade's biggest stars.

Championship feel

The supporters of Tivoli Gardens, on the other hand, have a greater understanding of the championship feel in recent times, as three of their title successes have been attained since 1999.

In that year, the Vernon Bell-coached west Kingston team - with Roderick 'Little Richie' Reid, Ricardo 'Wily Boo' Fuller, Jermaine 'Teddy' Johnson, Christopher Nicholas, Marco McDonald, Amos Israel, Ian Fogo, Desmond Francis now among the coaching staff, Oneil Riley, Andrew Chisholm, and Kasai Hinds, who scored over 10 goals playing from central midfield, leading the lines. The team they beat was Harbour View.

Bell left and the next coach to lead Tivoli to the title was the 'Admiral'.

Bailey was actually the second of four different coaches to lead Tivoli Gardens to the crown, as Owen Sharpe had started the ball rolling in 1982-83 when they took their first championship title with a win over Santos in the final.

Then the likes of Dennis 'Den Den' Hutchinson, the little midfield maestro Dave Clarke, Alphonso Williams better known as 'Bendu' and Oneil Russell were among the leading players.

Tivoli went close to recording back-to-back successes, but in another episode of their long-standing western rivalry they lost the final the following year to their Boys' Town neighbours.

Tivoli were to win their next two titles in the 2003-04 season when Bailey was steering the ship, and in 2008-09 when Hyde was coaching the team.

Many of the players on this unit were a part of the last Tivoli team to have won the title, including the evergreen Steve Green, Edsel Scott and Kasai Hinds, who are seeking their fourth crown with the club, having played on the champion teams coached by Bell, Bailey and Hyde.

Should they hold pole position and win, they would draw level with Santos as the only teams to have won the national league title five times.

Santos, though, made their mark at the outset winning the first four titles from 1973-74 to 1976-77, twice beating Santos and Cavalier.

Santos would beat Cavalier again in 1979-80 for their fifth and final crown.

In recent times though, it has been Tivoli Gardens on the upsurge and Bailey, who already knows what winning feels like, noted that he had to 'give it' to his players at the half-time break, when his team was locked at 0-0 in their match against Waterhouse.

On that same day, Boys' Town were having a difficult time against Portmore United as well and after eking out a 2-1 win over Portmore United, they have goalkeeper Kirk 'Duppy Man' Porter to thank for making two outstanding saves off a penalty kick, twice diving to block powerfully driven strikes from Steven Morrissey - the first from the initial penalty and the second off the rebound, having got back to his feet to make another crucial block.

With two rounds to go, Porter and his opposite number, Edsel Scott, may be called on to make more crucial saves as they won't be getting any favours.

Bailey admitted that much, after their midweek match.

"Nobody wants us to win, nobody will do us any favours, so we must be ready at all times to go out there and fight until the end for the result," he said.

Both have tough matches though, with Boys' Town set to face Waterhouse and Tivoli Gardens tackling last year's winners, Harbour View, when the league resumes later this week.

Neither Waterhouse nor Harbour View are taking any prisoners as both have a chance to pocket the third-place prize. Hence, Tivoli have it all to do when they travel to play the Stars of the East. Boys' Town will have it no easier as they journey to Drewsland to play Waterhouse.

Given the tough proposition, Navion Boyd, the top goal scorer for Tivoli (10) and Renae Lloyd and Anthony Bennett, with seven goals apiece for Boys' Town, will have to dig deep to keep their respective teams on top.

For the contests, Tivoli will be without Raymond Williamson and Nackwayne Parchment in midfield, while Boys' Town will have to do without top defender Wayne Ellis, who are all suspended.

Should the results dictate that the chase goes down to the wire, the two teams will clash at Tivoli Gardens' home ground, Edward Seaga Stadium.

Interestingly, Boys' Town have had great results there this season ensuring Tivoli's only home loss as they registered a 2-0 success on Wednesday, November 4.

In two other clashes, the teams have evenly shared the spoils, with Boys' Town winning 1-0 at Collie Smith Drive on Wednesday, September 15 and Tivoli turning the tables in their most recent matchup, at a January 26 meeting at Collie Smith Drive that was also decided by the game's only goal.

Even though Boys' Town, in terms of its constituency, falls in the South St Andrew area, their positioning across the road from Tivoli Gardens makes this DPL title chase a truly west Kingston derby and whoever comes out champions, the trophy will certainly rest in that area of the city.