Racing United brought Tivoli Gardens’ unbeaten start to the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) season to an end with a pulsating 4-3 victory in the early Monday night game at Drewsland yesterday.
Nickyle Ellis (14th, 18th) scored twice for the Portmore-based outfit, which climbed to second in the standings with 12 points from five matches.
Javaughn Cole (45th) and Chantomoi Taylor (78th) were the other scorers for Racing.
Steve Clarke (16th), Levaughn Williams (35th) and Joshua Dewar (89th) replied for Tivoli.
Despite conceding three goals, Racing coach Densil Theobald was upbeat about his team’s performance.
“In reality, the objective of football is winning matches and outscoring the opponent, and we were able to achieve that tonight, which we are grateful for.
“It was one of our best performances. But in saying that, Tivoli really made it difficult for us, with their aggressive play and physicality, and we really struggled, but I am really happy we were able to find a way through it all and come out with the victory,” he commented.
Ellis gave Racing the lead from a difficult angle early in the contest, but Clarke responded two minutes later when he broke away and slotted past goalkeeper Aaron Enill.
Ellis restored Racing’s advantage shortly afterwards with a composed finish, but Tivoli drew level when they won possession outside the Racing penalty area and Williams found space to beat Enill.
Williams had two excellent chances to put Tivoli ahead but failed to convert, and Cole made them pay moments later when he raced through and tucked the ball past Nicholas Clarke to give Racing a 3-2 lead at the break.
After the interval, Racing looked the more likely team to score, with Kadean Young and Ellis both missing good opportunities. However, they eventually extended their lead when Taylor swept home from eight yards in the 78th minute.
Tivoli reduced the deficit to 4-3 through Dewar in the final minute of regulation time, but despite applying heavy pressure in added time, they were unable to find an equaliser.
Tivoli remain fourth on eight points.
Despite ending up on the losing side, Tivoli coach Andrew Price praised his players’ effort, but felt they were unusually poor defensively and wasteful in attack.
“It was a tough game, but defensively we weren’t sound. We have been very efficient in our defence previously and we were very lax today and, I believe, gifted some goals to Racing.
“Up front, we weren’t as clinical as we normally are, as we got a lot of opportunities. We had about five or six chances we should have converted, but football is like that. It is made up of ebbs and flows. We didn’t battle well enough and came out on the losing end,” he said.
livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com
