FORMER Red Stripe Premier League champions Tivoli Gardens and cellar-placed August Town opened their crucial third-round campaign with a 2-2 draw at the Edward Seaga Sport Complex yesterday.

Jerome Wedderburn (15th minute) and substitute Davion Alves (77th) scored for August Town, while Keammar Daley (29th) and Andre Mc Farlane (52nd) replied for Tivoli Gardens for a share of the points in a game that showed promise for positive football from the opening whistle.

And it was little surprise when August Town took the lead following a mix-up between Kasai Hinds and goalkeeper Edsel Scott with the game barely 15 minutes on.

With both teams slated to meet in the KSAFA Jackie Bell KO final in just over two weeks, pride was at stake and Tivoli Gardens began to dig in and 14 minutes later came up with the equaliser.

The game went to the break with the score unchanged. On the resumption, however, Tivoli Gardens came out swinging and duly went ahead seven minutes into the half through the poaching McFarlane.

The go-ahead goal seemed to have prompted the visitors into remedial action as they made two changes in the 67th and 68th minutes. They then switched from their patient build-up approach to a more direct one, and the latter strategy brought them the equaliser from Alves 10 minutes after his arrival.

August Town, heartened by the equaliser, and Tivoli Gardens, disgusted by the slip-up once more, continued with their high-press approach in an attempt to wrest the initiative from each other.