Tivoli's head coach Lenworth Hyde Sr.

Tivoli Gardens were not the quickest team out of the blocks at the start of the Digicel Premier League (DPL) season, but finishing like a runaway freight train to eclipse favourites Portmore United, at the very last throw of the dice, provided nail-biting spectators with one of the most memorable title celebrations to date.

Almost trailing defending champions Portmore United by double digits heading into the final round of the season, not many would have given the west Kingston team a shot at winning it all. But fortunately for Tivoli, their coach Lenworth Hyde was not among them.

"I was always confident because of the work we put in during the season, the players improved from round to round, they always responded well and when you looked in their faces, you could tell they really wanted to win. There was that look in their eyes," Hyde shared with The Gleaner.

remarkable season

"Heading into the final round, I just told them all we have to do is win all our remaining games and we will see where that takes us," he added.

That kind of attitude not only took Tivoli to their fourth premier league title overall, but capped off a remarkable season, which saw the team capture the Jackie Bell crown as well as making it to the first end-of-round final and the Champions Cup final. A stellar performance from Boys' Town saw them beat Tivoli 3-0 to win the Champions Cup, but the west Kingston team returned to beat the Red Brigade twice en route to the league cup.

Despite being among the league's top teams for the past four seasons, inconsistent play had often prevented Tivoli from claiming the top spot. Plagued by a slow start, which saw the west Kingston team draw their first three games of the season and fail to register back-to-back wins for a long mid-season stretch, it seemed Tivoli would once again fall just short of their target. In fact, oddly enough, the first time Tivoli led the league was when they lifted the title last Sunday, tied with Portmore on 72 points, but edging out the St Catherine team by a goal in the goal difference column.

"I don't really have any regrets, I didn't like the way that we started the season, but we really picked up mid-round and, of course, the way that we finished was excellent. Looking back though I think we could have had a better start," Hyde said.

"But even with tough results, we have a lot of honesty at the club and we try to prepare all of the players on the same level. The discipline is good and they have a lot of belief in the coaching staff. I have to take my hat off to Max as well, he has been a big part of when we won the title this season," he added.

outstanding performances

Striker Roland Dean led the charge for Tivoli in the scoring department, finishing as the league's second-highest scorer with 19 goals. However, the team also had outstanding performances by Dean's partner upfront Navion Boyd, central midfielder Jerry Walters and Oraine Simpson, who scored in three of the team's final five games. However, according to Hyde, it is difficult to single out any one player as being a player of the season.

"The team had a great season overall so it's hard to single out anyone. Roland Dean had a good season for us, I also liked how Oraine Simpson finished the season, he scored for us in some very crucial games. Jerry Walters was solid and so was the goalkeeper Edsel Scott. It was a real team effort," he concluded.

Tivoli Gardens' Roland Dean (Jersey 24) under pressure from Arnett Gardens' Gerald Neil in a Digicel Premier League game between the two teams.

Navion Boyd ... among Tivoli's top players of the season.

Jerry Walters ... very tough defender.

Oraine Simpson ... scored a number of vital goals.