Cavalier, Maroons advance to last eight of Lynk Cup

Cavalier and Chapelton Maroons advanced to the quarterfinals of the Lynk Cup KO competition following wins over Montego Bay United and Humble Lion in two all Jamaica Premier League clashes yesterday.

The Rudolph Speid-coached Cavalier scored an extra-time 2-0 victory over Montego Bay United at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, but Chapelton Maroons needed penalties to get past Humble Lion.

With Cavalier and Montego Bay United locked at 0-0 at the end of regulation time, it took just six minutes in extra time for the in-form Collin Anderson to give the winners a 1-0 lead after his composed finish in front of goal following a neat build-up. That lead was doubled in the 101st minute as Dwayne Atkinson scored from a corner kick following a goalkeeping error from Montego Bay’s custodian, Davonnie Burton.

Winning coach Speid was pleased with the overall performance of his team and more so from 16 year-old midfielder Adrian Reid.

“What I was most pleased about is that we had three 16 year-olds and a 17 year-old on the pitch, and I was happy with how they acquitted themselves. Reid was exceptional today,” Speid stated.

Head coach of Montego Bay United, Neidir Dos Santos, felt the 2-0 score line was not a true reflection of what took place on the pitch.

“The first 90 minutes were very tough and balanced. We had some chances, and they had some chances, but we’ll now move on to continue to play in the league,” Dos Santos said.

At Effortville Sports Complex , Chapelton Maroons eliminated Humble Lion 5-3 on penalties.

SHOOT-OUT

In a game that saw the teams playing to a 2-2 draw in full and extra time, it took the dreaded penalties to separate them. While the Maroons were perfect from the spot, Humble Lion’s Roshane Sharpe was the only one to miss a penalty in the shoot-out.

Following the contest, Humble Lion head coach Andre Pryce said it was the “worst display” he had seen from his team since he joined. However, Chapelton Maroons Brazilian coach Clovis de Oliveira praised his charges for coming into the ‘Lion’s Den’ and knocking out one of the high-riding teams.

“I feel very proud. We have been having a lot of bad results of late, but I am happy with the performance of the team and the improvement of the team,” de Oliveira said.

That improved performance about which de Olivera spoke was evident within the first seven minutes of the contest as the Maroons came out the more purposeful team and got the opening goal following a neat finish from attacking player Mark Lewis.

That opening goal didn’t seem to send a signal to Humble Lion, who didn’t make any adjustments, and on minute 26, they would go further behind when Alex Gayle arrived late at the near post to tap home a right-sided cross from Lewis.

Humble Lion coach Andrew Price urged his players to give more effort, and Andre Clennon leapt high to head home in the 38th minute after the Chapelton defence failed to clear their lines.

Humble Lion would have to wait until the second half to pull level as it was Clennon who was fouled inside the area by substitute Kenaldo Brown and substitute Jermain Christian stepping up to convert the penalty and pull the game level at two all.

Evan Taylor, Alex Gayle, Kenaldo Brown, Hugani Ricketts, and Ronaldo Christian all scored from the spot for the Maroons while Andrew Vanzie, Rohan Richards, and Omario Walters were the penalty scorers for Humble Lion.