Cavalier miss chance to regain JPL lead
CAVALIER MISSED a glorious chance to regain the lead in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) at the Stadium East field last night after they were held to a 1-1 draw by lowly Humble Lion.
The former champions extended their unbeaten run to 12 games but had to come from behind to salvage a point against a team sitting in 12th spot. A win would have lifted Cavalier above current leaders Mount Pleasant on goal difference. After last night’s draw Cavalier are on 44 points from 20 games, two behind leaders Mount Pleasant who have played 21 games. Humble Lion are on 19 points, seven clear of the relegation zone.
Cavalier coach Rudolph Speid was less than satisfied with his team’s display in yesterday’s match.
“I’m not happy as we got a lot of opportunities, especially in the first half and we could have done better. It was also a difficult game to play as every time we challenged there was a call and it was just difficult for us,” he stated.
Vassell Reynolds, head coach of Humble Lion, said he was a bit disappointed that the team couldn’t hold on to the three points but he is eyeing better performances as they look to move further away from the relegation zone.
“I thought we were a little unfortunate as we couldn’t hang on for the win but many thought we would have come out here and gotten a drubbing. We knew that we were up for it but Cavalier, despite being weakened, still had quality on the field. We want to move away from the dreaded zone to avoid us looking over our shoulders so that we can go out and express ourselves with a little more confidence,” he explained.
Cavalier started off having the better goalscoring opportunities as they came close to opening their account in the second minute through Gadail Irving’s thumping free kick which crashed into the crossbar. The dangerous Jalmaro Calvin was also in the thick of things by the 12th minute as his shot from inside the box had to be tipped over the bar by Humble Lion’s custodian Shamal Briscoe. As Cavalier piled on the pressure Orlando Russell also got a chance to score but he also failed to convert as his left-footed strike went just wide of the intended target a minute later.
In the second half Humble Lion got a few scoring chances early, the first went to captain Roshane Sharpe whose long-range shot sailed high above the bar. They, however, went ahead in the 56th minute as veteran attacker Andre Clennon managed to find space inside the box and calmly converted his effort after a Xavian Virgo free kick.
As Cavalier went in search of the equaliser, Christopher Ainsworth came close in the 67th minute but could only watch as his leftfooted strike went wide. However, Jalmaro Calvin managed to level the scores in the 78th minute with a header which crept inside the Humble Lion net.