Dunbeholden’s Lynk Cup fight oust Tivoli

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Dunbeholden completed a dramatic resurgence to book their spot in the Lynk Cup semifinals after beating Tivoli Gardens 4-3 on penalties in their quarterfinal second-leg game last night at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.

Tivoli’s Christopher Matthews spot kick in the seventh round cannoned off the crossbar as Dunbeholden kept their silverware hopes alive after the game finished 2-0 to Dunbeholden and 2-2 on aggregate in regulation and extra time.

Dunbeholden’s head coach Harold Thomas praised their resilience and attacking performance in the second leg, which he felt should have been put to bed in regulation.

“We should have gotten the go-ahead goals in the 90 minutes. It wasn’t to be and required resilience from these lads to dig deep. We are coming off a hectic game against Arnett Gardens. To come here and play 120 minutes in wet underfoot conditions it taxes the body,” Thomas said.

An Odane Samuels brace in the 28th and 84th minutes forced the game into extra time as Dunbeholden put Tivoli under constant pressure in regulation but were unable to finish the tie in regulation time.

For Tivoli’s coach Dwayne Blake it was the attacking inefficiencies that plagued them all season that cost them after taking a 2-0 lead in last week’s first leg.

“I thought that we were dominated, but it’s the same problems that have been haunting us all season. We are not scoring, we are not creating enough chances, and when we do, we are not taking them,” Blake said.

Down 2-0 from the first leg, Dunbeholden made the most of their early pressure as Samuels provided life with a brilliant finish with almost 30 minutes gone.

Dunbeholden thought they got the opportunity to level the tie in the 78th minute when the referee initially awarded a penalty. After consultation with the referee assistant, the decision was overturned.

Six minutes later, Samuels produced another stunner from outside the box to complete the comeback and level the series.