UWI crush Tivoli in season opener

UWI FC got their Red Stripe Premier League season off to a winning start as they hammered Tivoli Gardens 4-0 at the UWI Mona Bowl yesterday.

The Pelicans lead the way from start to finish, controlling possession and dictating the pace against a Tivoli team playing their first game since the passing of club president Edward Seaga.

Thorn Simpson opened the scoring for the Pelicans in the 13th minute after a scramble in the Tivoli penalty area lead to the ball finding Simpson to fire home from close range.

From there, UWI had the best of the chances going forward, forcing Tivoli goalkeeper Nicholas Clarke to make critical saves to prevent UWI from doubling their lead.

Tivoli Gardens weren’t able to generate many clear-cut chances in the first half, and though they managed to cause problems for goalkeeper Amal Knight in the second half, they only managed seven shots, with only two on target.

UWI got their second goal five minutes after the restart when Andrew Humphrey intercepted a pass on the right wing and his pass found Jahvari Hylton, who slotted home past Clarke.

Javaugni Barrett added a third seconds after his introduction in the 70th minute, and Devonte Stewart completed the rout four minutes from time.

PEART PLEASED

UWI head coach Andrew Peart was pleased with the performance of his team, specifically with the way his team managed the game.

“We really managed the spells that we had possession; it was really good. And the times where we didn’t have the ball, we managed to nullify the spaces that Tivoli could really threaten us,” he said.

Tivoli Gardens head coach Phillip Williams said that his team did not create enough chances to win the game but also revealed that he had made changes to the starting back line as they are still finalising deals for incoming players.

“We did not create enough chances, and we did not put away the chances that we did create,” he said. “The problem today was around the back. We weren’t organised at the back because we made three changes to the team that was in training. We look forward to the next game. We will be having our full staff for the next game [to give] a better performance.”