Latest News
Waite: TG ready for final push
March 18, 2025
After his team's exciting and morale-boosting 3-2 win over Waterhouse in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) on Sunday, Tivoli Gardens coach Jerome Waite believes his team is finally coming together and is ready to make the final push for a top six spot.
In Sunday's victory, Tivoli front four of Anthony Nelson, Lennox Russell, Nichalia Fuller and Richard Oldfield were too hot to handle, as Waterhouse struggled to cope with the pace and intensity of the home team.
The introduction of Steve Clarke on the right in the second half also kept Tivoli's momentum and effectiveness in the attack, and Waite was pleased to see his front players finally getting into their strides as a unit.
He pointed that it was good having their leading scorer, Anthony Nelson, back for the last three games, after his car accident in December. While Lennox Russell and Steve Clarke are starting to show their experience as title winning players, although Nickalia Fuller is still finding his feet in his new attacking midfield role.
"He (Nelson) is back. He is one who can also make the transition to the senior set up. It was after the December period he met in an accident and he suffered from thereon. But he is back for the last three games and so far now he is on nine goals and that speaks volumes for him."
Clarke replaced the relentless Oldfield on the right wing for the last 20 minutes of Sunday's match and set up two big chances before another inch perfect cross found Nelson to tie the game 2-2.
Late in the game Russell l was on hand to turn home his fourth goal of the season for the winner in added time. Waite believes the two former Arnett Gardens players are key to Tivoli's ambitions this season.
"Steve Clarke is a player who has won the Premier League on two occasions. So he knows what it is to win. Today he came from the bench and the impact that he added to the team spoke volumes.
"There is a good understanding with Russell because they are coming a team that has done extremely well and today they showed their real value, " he continued.
Fuller, Tivoli's player of the season so, he has been very effective playing on the left wing and at set pieces, which have produced eight goals for him this term. However, in a tactical switch, Waite decided to play him in the creative forward role just behind the striker. And although he thought the player handled the new role well, he said there is a whole lot of room for improvement.
"Fuller is an energetic youngster. And he loves to play the game. He is one who does not enjoy leaving the pitch. But we see where he could add a little energy in that (midfield) area and I think he did fairly well," he noted.
Nevertheless, he said there is a lot to take from the game and that their performance is something they are looking to build on.
This (performance) is something we worked on in the training sessions and it's good to see some of these things come out in the game.
He added that their squad is small and that they will have to manage the players properly with the games coming thick and fast.
"It's a challenging season. Playing twice a week is not something the players are accustomed to and if you notice, a lot of teams are suffering with injuries. But it's a learning process and also a work in progress," he stated.
With nine rounds of matches to go, Tivoli are eighth in the JPL standings on 39 points, two behind sixth place Racing and 29 points adrift of leaders Mount Pleasant.
