MoBay United, Tivoli wasteful in 1-1 draw

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

On an evening when very little went right for the two teams, previous leaders Tivoli Gardens and second from bottom Montego Bay United FC (MBUFC) played out a 1-1 draw as action started in round two of the 2011-12 Red Stripe Premier League on Sunday.

In the game played at the new Montego Bay Sports Complex in St James, MBUFC took the lead in the 75th minute through Mouracio Gordon, but before their celebrations had ended, Tivoli Gardens struck the equaliser through Mario Swaby in the 76th minute.

MBUFC missed a penalty two minutes from full time.

As a consequence of the draw, the Tivoli Gardens team, which missed three clear chances through Devon Hodges before the MBUFC team got a chance to seriously target their goal, increased their points tally to 20, while their opponents moved up from 10 to 11 points.

"This is what has been happening all season ... we keep creating very good chances but not taking them," said Tivoli Gardens head coach, Glendon 'Admiral' Bailey. "This is a problem we need to fix, so we will just have to spend more time on the training ground to fix this problem."

For MBUFC's coach Neider Dos Santos, he believes taking a point off the competition's top-ranked team is not a bad result, especially against the background of the less than desirable season the team has been having.

"We would have liked to have taken all three points, but a point against a team like Tivoli Gardens is not a bad result," said Dos Santos.

"The team has been showing a lot of improvements and had we not missed a penalty, we could well have won the game," he added.

After a somewhat lacklustre start by both teams, Tivoli sprung to life in the eighth minute when Hodges broke clean on goal but fired straight at the advancing goalkeeper.

Three minutes later Hodges ran on to a cross four yards from goal but scooped the ball over the crossbar.

With MBUFC under pressure and looking shaky in defence, Hodges again got through clean on goal in the 15th minute, but he fumbled with the goalkeeper advancing and was dispossessed.

Midway the half, MBUFC wasted the easiest of chances when Gordon traded passes with Leon Irving on the edge of the penalty area, but Irving's shot on goal was easily handled by Edsel Scott in goal for the west Kingston team.

In the 33rd minute, MBUFC should have scored when Kemar James got a clear header from six yards, but his powerful effort went into the path of the goalkeeper and was taken. The half ended without any further incidents of note.

The second half started with both teams looking more purposeful in their offensive play. However, like the first half, faulty finishing plagued both teams, which resulted in both coaches making substitutions in a bid to find a formula to curb their wastefulness.

In the 75th minute, MBUFC livewire midfielder Troy Reid, who came on as a substitute, cracked a savage shot, which rebounded from the grasp of goalkeeper Scott and fell into the path of Gordon, who calmly fired into the goal, making the score 1-0.

Tivoli struck back immediately when Swaby took a pass from the right flank, eluded two defenders and then stroked the ball into the goal, making the score 1-1 as a hush came over the complex.

With two minutes to go in the game, MBUFC got a glorious chance to win when the referee awarded them a penalty after a Tivoli defender handled the ball. Again, their joy was shortlived as Iton Scott booted the ball over the crossbar.