Cavalier lose top players to overseas clubs
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR of the Cavalier football team, Rudolph Speid, says it will be very difficult to replace defender Jamoi Topey and forward Nicque Daley, who both departed the island this week for overseas stints.
Topey, a national Under-20 player and former Camperdown High School standout, has secured a one-year loan with United Soccer League team Bethlehem Steel in the United States.
Daley, who led Clarendon College to last year’s daCosta Cup and Olivier Shield titles, has joined Chile’s top-flight club Colo-Colo on a six-week trial.
TIED FOR SECOND
Cavalier are currently tied for second place in the Red Stripe Premier League with Waterhouse, on 45 points each. Defending champions Portmore United lead the standings with 47 points.
Speid said it is very hard to lose both players at this stage of the season, but this is a great opportunity for Topey and Daley to move up to the next level of their careers.
“If you lose any top player, it will affect the team because Topey was a part of our defensive unit, which has the second-best defensive record in the league so far,” said Speid.
“We now have to go back and find another combination like that, which is not impossible, but it will be difficult,” he said.
“My idea was to always develop players for the national team and clubs overseas, and so, we always expected that any day of the week we could let them go to clubs overseas,” Speid said.
“My first intention was never to top the league, and I am not under any pressure to win the league,” he said.
FEW PLAYERS LOST
He added that his club could lose a few more players to overseas clubs during this season. Speid said several international clubs have been enquiring about the services of midfielders Chevon Marsh, Alex Marshall and Nicholas Hamilton.
“These are very talented players and they have proven themselves to be among the best players in the country, and so, overseas clubs have been enquiring about them,” Speid said.
“My idea was to always develop players for the national team and clubs overseas”