Tivoli extend their unbeaten run

Western Bureau:

A brace from Stephen Barnett saw Tivoli Gardens FC continue their climb up the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) table with a 2-0 victory over Montego Bay United (MBU) at Drax Hall yesterday.

Tivoli got their opening goal in the 24th minute after a huge concentration lapse by MBU. Barnett found the net less than 30 seconds after play resumed following forced substitution, because of injury, by MBU.

Barnett added his second 10 minutes into the second half to seal the game for Tivoli.

Assistant coach of Tivoli, Jermaine ‘Teddy’ Johnson, describes their current run of form as ‘a good feeling’ as they look towards solidifying a play-off spot.

“It’s always a good feeling when you’re winning and climbing up the ladder. We still have to just keep taking it one game at a time and keep focus out there,” Johnson said.

“The play-offs are always in our sights. The players are confident and know that this is a chance to be up there. We just have to stay focused and remain consistent,” he added.

UNBEATEN RUN

Tivoli are enjoying their best run of form for the season, putting together back-to-back wins now in a five-game unbeaten run. Johnson attributes this good form to the training they have been putting in recently.

“I think our training has a lot to do with it (recent form). We try to get things right from there. We try to defend well and score the goals when we get them, so I think everything is going well,” Johnson said.

Leacroft Lettman, coach of MBU, blamed lack of concentration for his team’s struggles and noted they may need a psychologist to get into the minds of his players.

“We started the game playing well but, again, concentration let us down. This keeps happening in the crucial areas. We are not getting the ball away from the danger zone in crunch time and that’s where goals are being scored against us,” Lettman said.

“We have been trying to get right the mental aspect of the training. I’m trying to get the players to talk more and analyse themselves in games. We might have to get a psychologist to come in and fix that problem,” he added.