Richard Bryan, Gleaner Writer

TIVOLI GARDENS made the most of wet conditions at Brancourt yesterday to defeat Sporting Central 3-0 and greatly boost their chances of making the first end-of-round final.

Tivoli jumped to 18 points and will have the advantage of home support for their final first-round clash with Boys' Town, who are also in contention for the final.

A 20-minute burst of rain after quarter of an hour's play seemed to swing the game drastically in Tivoli's favour, as lady luck landed the ball within better striking range for their attacking players.

Soggy surface

Midfielder Craig Stewart, who last scored against Arnett Gardens in the second round last season, pounced well to capitalise twice on missed clearances by the home side due to the soggy surface.

His strikes in the 16th and 30th minutes were followed by Roland Dean's seventh goal of the season in the 34th minute.

With Tivoli head coach Lenworth Hyde missing due to duties with the national Under-20 team, assistant Max Straw looked relaxed and pleased at half time.

Satisfied

The team's comfortable lead at halftime should have been improved upon in the second half when Navion Boyd came close to scoring with two long-range shots, the last of which Erron Brown rose well to deflect over the crossbar.

"We made better use of the conditions but we are satisfied we have kept ourselves in contention for the end-of-round final," said Straw, after the game.

Losing coach Chris Dawes said his side never adapted well to the soggy surface and was hurt by the absence of four of his most talented players due to their training with the national Under-20 team.