Hodges

Spanish Town:

An 82nd-minute strike by leading goalscorer Devon Hodges led Rivoli Football Club to a 1-0 victory over the high-riding Tivoli Gardens in their Digicel Premier League encounter yesterday at the Spanish Town Prison Oval, which was packed to capacity, with both teams having good support.

The loss kept Tivoli on 34 points, while Rivoli maintained its fifth position as they advanced to 18.

Prevented from scoring

The first half was dominated by the Tivoli team, which played cohesively through the likes of Jerry Walters, Navion Boyd, Kasai Hinds and Craig Stewart. However, they were prevented from scoring by strong defending from the likes of Cleveland Hibbert, Christopher Haynes, Fabian Garden and Barrington Planter.

Lost focus

In the second half, Tivoli did not play the type of ball they played in the first half and despite patches of brilliance from the likes of Boyd and Hinds, their play degenerated into a kick-and-run game.

It was a similar situation for Rivoli, despite the presence of Hodges, Ricardo Knight and Luke Soares, who was substituted late in the game.

The game changed with the injection of Sean Coleman, who transferred to Sporting Central last season. Back with his old team, the forward added impetus to Rivoli's play as they began to pressure the Tivoli defence.

With eight minutes to go, Valentine Gardener dribbled into the Tivoli goal area and made a cross to the unmarked Hodges, who made no mistake in scoring, setting off an eruption among Rivoli supporters in the stands.

Tivoli followers, on the other hand, started to move out of Prison Oval.

"We played good this afternoon and it is good that we won," said Rivoli's technical director, Bradley Stewart. "I am thankful for the three points.

Comfortable with standings

"However, we are still in the bottom six and won't feel comfortable until we are in the top six of the league. But we played well."

Max Straw, Tivoli's assistant coach, was frank in his assessment: "If you don't score goals when you get them, then you will lose the match. That was what happened this evening; the game did not flow, officially or otherwise."