Second time’s the charm

CAVALIER SOCCER Club’s Dwayne Atkinson was pulled from a first-leg Champions Cup tie against Cibao Football Club last week so he could be ready for yesterday’s away fixture.

This was the second time that Cavalier were in a Caribbean Cup final and they needed all the help they could get.

Atkinson scored in the 54th minute of the 2-1 loss to put his team ahead in the tie after a hair-raising first half had put them on the backfoot. Cavalier won 3-2 on aggregate, courtesy of the away-goal rule.

Cavalier went into the second leg at the CIbao FC Stadium in Santiago de los Caballeros with a paper-thin 1-0 lead, earned last Tuesday at the National Stadium in Kingston but were soon in trouble.

Juan Díaz opened the scoring for Cibao in the 27th minute from the penalty spot after a handball from Jloyd Smith to even the tie.

But to Cavalier’s horror, Rivaldo Correa’s header was on target just a minute later to put them behind.

After Cavalier went in front, they were forced to stave off a barrage from Cibao. However, they were always a threat, with Jalmaro Calvin hitting the woodwork in the 88th sounding a stern warning.

Still, Cibao would continue to pour forward and in the fifth minute of time added, Rivaldo Correa missed an opportunity to put the home side back in front.

Player of the tournament, Atkinson said despite going two goals down they stayed calm. He noted also that the goal was a big motivation to battle on.

“We kept our composure. They were leading us two-love but we knew we needed only one (goal) but we came back and got the job done and we kept a cleansheet in the second half,” he said.

“The most difficult moment was when they led us 2-0, our heads were down but we came back second-half and regrouped and kept fighting and we give God thanks. The goal gave us the momentum to keep fighting and to go to the end of the game and come out victorious.

“This is one of my biggest dreams in my career. It’s a very proud moment for me, my coach and all the fans from Jamaica. So we will give God thanks and celebrate.”

The result means Cavalier earned a bye to the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup’s round of 16. The draw for the Champions Cup takes place on Tuesday and the competition kicks off in February2 025.