TG look to keep energy
Published:Thursday | May 27, 2021 | 12:19 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Tivoli Gardens head coach, Philip Williams, is hoping his team can continue where they left off and recapture the form they were on when the 2019-2020 Premier League campaign was brought to an abrupt end by the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.
Before the season was declared cancelled, the west Kingston club enjoyed a good run of form and was sitting seventh in the table, two points of a play-off spot and nine adrift of leaders Waterhouse.
The team went nine games unbeaten, which included six wins, before they were stopped by second-place Mount Pleasant in their last match in the competition in February 9.
Williams noted that they have managed to keep the same group of player that ended the season, and although the dynamics of this shortened Jamaica Premier League campaign are very different, he is looking to pick up where they left off.
RETAINING ALL THE PLAYERS
“Like most other clubs we have retained all our players who ended the league with us the last time around. We were doing well at that time and the guys just want to continue in that form,” Williams said.
“Some youngsters like Trayvon Reid and experienced players like Jermaine ‘Teddy’ Johnson and other senior players took some time to find form, but in the latter part of the season before it was disrupted, we were gelling as a team.
“So it is about putting these guys back together and getting them in shape so they can do well,” he added.
Williams believes that the limited preseason, along with the truncated season and the fact that the players have been inactive for more than a year, will give the tournament a sense of uncertainty.
“We see this competition as a celebration of the return of football and its value as a league. It is a shortened format and we do not know how much merit we can give to that. But we are going to do everything to make it a success. We would like to win and we will try our best to make it a very competitive season,” said Williams.