‘We’ve hit a purple patch’

Jamaica’s Cavalier SC will face Dominican Republic’s Cibao FC in a two-way final in the Concacaf Caribbean Championships. The games will be played on November 28 and December 3.

Rudolph Speid, head coach of Cavalier, speaking with reporters after his team’s 7-0 rout of nine-man Moca, stated that this period of time in the club’s history shouldn’t be taken for granted.

“It’s a big achievement, not to mention the money. As a club that has suffered over the years and in the last seven has hit a purple patch, this is something that we cherish,” he stated.

Cibao confirmed their spot in the final, courtesy of a 4-2 aggregate victory over Haitian club Real Hope. Cavalier will be seeking to go one step further this time around, after losing last season’s final 1-0 to Suriname’s club S.V Robinhood. According to Speid, a lot of onlookers thought the club, after losing a number of players in the recent transfer window, would have struggled, but because of their depth in good academy players, the club has managed to remain competitive.

“We lost a lot of players in the transfer window, so people thought that we would be faltering. However, we’ve gone from strength to strength and that is because of our youth academy. We have a lot of young players and this is one of the things that we are proud of and we’ll continue to do so,” he explained.

With just over three weeks to go before the first leg of the final, Speid is already confident that the team will put on a better display in this year’s final. He added that the team has areas in which they can be much better in the coming weeks.

“The last time we went to the Concacaf final, we lost. This time, we aren’t going there to just lay down and play dead. We are going to fight, and that is what we’re working towards,” Speid said.

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com