Thomas’ late equaliser denies Tivoli DPL lead
MAY PEN, Clarendon — Humble Lion’s captain Loxley Thomas scored a late penalty to deny Tivoli Gardens the chance of going atop the Digicel Premier League as the two ended 1-1 in a rescheduled first-round fixture at Effortville yesterday.
Damion Gordon struck for Tivoli from close range, but Loxley Thomas stole a point from the spot after a foul on Denzil Watson.
With the point, the Glendon ‘Admiral’ Bailey-coached End-of-First-Round champions inched to 23 points — two behind leaders Waterhouse and three ahead of third-placed Boys’ Town.
And Bailey, who thought the penalty was questionable, said he was happy with the result.
In stark contrast, Humble Lion, despite picking up a point, remain in the relegation zone 10 — one adrift of 10th-placed Arnett Gardens.
This was their eighth point in six outings under coach Lenworth Hyde and assistant coach Max Straw believes progress is being made, but more concentration is needed from the players.
“I thought we had the better of play… but we lapsed in concentration and gave up an early goal, which has been happening for the past three games now,” Straw told the Observer.
Like they did on Sunday against Waterhouse, Tivoli took an early lead — in the second minute — when Gordon tapped home a low right-sided cross from close range.
The game restarted like the first half ended — the guests staying behind the ball with occasional attacks and the homesters throwing everything into attack, which paid off in the 72nd minute when substitute Watson was fouled by Kasai Hinds in the box and Thomas, who wore the captain’s armband, buried the penalty past the outstretched hands of Edsel Scott.