Tivoli impress on opening day of 2023-24 JPL

Tivoli Gardens kicked off their 2023-24 Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL) season in emphatic style at the National Stadium yesterday with a 3-0 victory over Waterhouse.

The west Kingston-based Tivoli took the lead in the 30th minute through Howard Morris and added a second three minutes later courtesy of Justin Dunn.

Shaquille Jones sealed the win after the break with a third goal in the 60th minute to give former Arnett Gardens coach Jerome Waite a winning return to the league.

Waite said they knew very little about the Waterhouse team before the match, and they focused on their game, and it paid off for them.

“They ([players) put in the hard work work, and they were successful,” Waite said. “We did not know anything about the Waterhouse team (before the game), and we just ensured that we stuck to our task, and it bore fruit.

“We have so many things we can take from the game. One of the most important ones is that we kept a clean sheet, and the other is that we scored three goals, but we still have more work to do in all areas,” he said.

After such a massive result against one of the league’s seasoned campaigners, Waite predicted that teams will be taking them a lot more seriously for more reasons than one.

“It (win) is satisfying, but there’s always room for improvement. Everybody will take Tivoli a lot more serious now because I am here.”

On the other hand, it wasn’t the start that Marcel Gayle, the Waterhouse coach, was hoping for.

“It is the first one, and we are disappointed. We were unfortunate. I thought we gave up two soft goals, and we had the better of play up to that moment, and a lapse in concentration let us give away two goals.

“The second half, we created a couple opportunities that we should have put away, but unfortunately, it wasn’t our day,” he said.

With the biggest win on opening day, Tivoli sit atop of the table ahead of Mount Pleasant and Humble Lion, who had 1-0 wins over Portmore United and Treasure Beach, respectively.

The day’s other game between Lime Hall and Montego Bay United ended 0-0.

The league continues today at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex with Arnett Gardens opposing Dundeholden in the feature match at 7:30 p.m. In the opening game at 5 p.m., Molynes United face Vere United United.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com

Other results

Mount Pleasant 1 Portmore 0

Humble Lion 1 Treasure Beach 0

Lime Hall 0 Montego Bay 0

Today’s games

5 p.m.: Molynes vs Vere

7:30 p.m.: Arnett vs Dunbeholden

Both games will be played at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.