1 week ago
6
CAVALIER DEFEATED Portmore United 1-0 in their rescheduled Jamaica Premier League (JPL) game at Sabina Park yesterday and move within four points of their opponents, creating a seven-point gap between themselves and sixth-placed Waterhouse.
Shaquille Stein scored the game’s only goal, 10 minutes into the second half, to secure the points for Rudolph Speid’s team.
Speid said it was a game of fine margins, but that the three points were crucial in staying out of the “dogfight” for sixth spot.
“Both teams are likely to meet in the quarter-finals. It was a game where nobody wanted to give anything away. It was a tactical game, and what I saw was two teams feeling each other out.
“It was an evenly contested game, but as I said, both teams were basically feeling each other out and not wanting to give anything away, and we just got the odd goal to get the win,” he said.
Cavalier stayed fifth on 56 points, four behind Portmore in fourth, seven in front of sixth-placed Waterhouse, and eight ahead of seventh-placed Tivoli and Racing Uited in eighth. Racing, though, have two games in hand.
Speid said it was a good win to get some breathing space from the chasing pack.
“We don’t really want to get into that dogfight. So it was a really important win. There is a chasing pack, and we want to stay away from the chasing pack,” he stated.
In an equally contested first-half, the two teams created good openings that they both failed to take advantage of.
The breakthrough came 10 minutes after the interval, when Stein tapped home a cross from close range to break the deadlock.
Portmore coach Rudolph Austin said one lapse in concentration cost them the match.
BALANCED GAME
“We got two chances in the first half that we didn’t take. It was a balanced game. We just switched off in a moment that caused the goal. We have to be more focused in the game. That is all, really,” he stated.
Portmore, already 12 points clear of Tivoli and Racing in seventh and eighth, respectively, have virtually secured their top-six spot, but Austin said there is no letting up, as the aim is to win all their remaining regular-season games.
“I don’t think we are safe in the top six. I do not think that. I want to win every game. That is how football is. You have to try and win games. We came here today trying to win but it did not happen. So we just have to move on,” he added.
English (US) ·