Village hold Tivoli to 0-0 draw

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

It took all of seven games, but Village United finally collected their first point of the 2011-12 National Premier League (NPL) yesterday afternoon when they held champions Tivoli Gardens to a 0-0 draw at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium in Falmouth.

"We just did not show up to play today," said Tivoli Gardens' coach Glendon 'Admiral' Bailey. "Although I am not pleased with the way we played today, a point on the road is not a bad result and we are still unbeaten in this competition."

For the Village United team, coach Kendal Mercury said he was humbled by the point they secured, especially against the background of the known quality of their opponent.

"It is a humbling feeling that we have finally gotten off the mark and managed to keep a clean sheet for the season," said Mercury. "Let us hope that this is going to be the beginning of some good result, as this is a good boost going up against Boys' Town in our next game."

Missed chances

Village United enjoyed the better of the exchanges but were guilty of a spate of missed chances. The hosts should have taken the lead from the first minute when Romaine Roberts got a good chance from an early break, but he hesitated and lost possession.

After seeing another Village chance go to waste in the third minute when Troy Smith fired a close-range grounder at the goalkeeper, Tivoli also got and wasted back-to-back chances in the seventh and eight minutes. Firstly, Jameel Thompson fired wide from close in before Navion Boyd had his shot brilliantly saved by the Village custodian.

The second half started with Tivoli wasting a chance within seconds as Boyd sped goalwards but failed to get off an accurate shot with the goalkeeper at his mercy.

Troy Smith got two good chances for Village in the 69th and 75th minutes. Firstly, he fired tamely at the goalkeeper from six yards before firing across the face of the goal after he found an opening through the Tivoli defence.

Towards the end of the game, it was all Village United, as they made a bold bid to secure the first win of the season. However, it was not to be as both teams left the venue with a share of the spoils.