Humbled
A 45-second strike from Jamaica College schoolboy Junior Flemmings set the tone for Tivoli Gardens’ emphatic 3-0 win over Humble Lion in their Red Stripe Premier League match at the Edward Seaga Stadium yesterday.
Goals by Flemmings (1st), Shawn McKoy (72nd) and Andre McFarlene (74th) propelled Tivoli Gardens to their second consecutive win and their seventh from 20 games and up two places to fifth on 27 points.
Humble Lion, who are losing four of their last five games, slipped two spots to seventh on 25 points in what has been a rocky season so far for the Clarendon team.
Flemmings, 18, the Leading Goalscorer and Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Manning Cup, fired home from outside the box moments after the kick-off and before fans had barely settled in their seats.
It was a quick build-up as the home team moved the ball around swiftly, and the Geoffrey Maxwell-coached Humble Lion, were taking the ball out of their net before they knew what hit them.
Maxwell was obviously not pleased with what was happening on the pitch and was about to make a double substitution after only 19 minutes, but instead he brought on Narado Brown for forward Omando McLoud.
The lanky Kimroy Davis was asked to wait, but he finally entered in minute 42, replacing the hard-tackling Jeffrey Henry, who apparently injured himself in one of his many crunching tackles.
McKoy scored a rare goal and what a beauty it was. The diminutive midfielder latched on to a partial clearance some 30 metres out and unleashed a powerful half-volley, which screamed past the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Damian Crooks in the 72nd minute.
Before the celebrations were subdued, the skilful McFarlene picked up a ball at the edge of the box and totally bamboozled a defender with some fancy footworks before rifling home a stunning shot with his weaker right foot.