Roland Dean scored the equalising goal for Tivoli against Boys' Town in a 2-1 win. - file

Tivoli Gardens booked their place in the semi-finals of the Western Union Jackie Bell knockout competition, following an exciting 2-1 come-from-behind victory over rivals Boys' Town, in the quarter-final round at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex yesterday.

In a fiercely contested match, which saw both teams up to the task, Boys Town' ended the game with nine men and Tivoli finished with 10. Daemion Benjamin (36th) and Renae Lloyd (79th) were the players sent off for Boys' Town, while Jameel Thompson was sent off for Tivoli in the 58th minute.

First blood

It was the Red Brigade who drew first blood, as Garfield Gillespie gave them the lead in the 23rd minute, heading a well taken free kick from George Vernal into the back of the net. However, the visitors would soon find themselves at a disadvantage, as Daemion Benjamin was sent off, picking his second yellow card of the match just 10 minutes later.

Tivoli Gardens failed to capitalise on the numerical advantage, as both strikers Roland Dean and Navian Boyd were guilty of missing clear-cut chances.

Tivoli Gardens were reduced to 10, when Jameel Thompson was sent for a vicious tackle on Carlos Wright. Dean made up for his earlier misses, when he found his team the equaliser in the 65th minute, lobbing the ball from 25-yards out over the head of Porter, who was caught off his line.

Boys' Town were further reduced, when Renae Lloyd was sent off for violent conduct in the 79th minute. Tivoli Gardens substitute Jermaine Allen came close to scoring a second goal for his team in the 85th minute, but his 30-yard shot hit the crossbar. But, just when it seemed the match was headed into extra time, Tivoli Gardens' captain, Christopher Jackson, popped up inside the penalty box and chested home a cross from Dwight Heron against the run of play.

"It was difficult, but it wasn't impossible, because the guys said that they were going to win this one," said Max Straw coach of Tivoli.

"We knew that we couldn't afford to lose two straight in front of our home fans because our community deserve this and we are glad we delivered tonight," he said.

"We always want to make sure that we play quality football because we realise that to get our crowd out we need to play good football and we try and do this every game." he said

Andrew Price, technical director of Boys' Town, believes his team simply lost their composure.

"I think the two red cards that we got was stupidity on the part of my players, not using their composure or their heads," he said.

"However, I think we fought doggedly and we were in the game until we gave up that sort of goal, which was really heartbreaking," he added.