Cavalier put one foot in JWPL final with 6-2 Vere thrashing
Published:Sunday | May 21, 2023 | 12:40 AMOrane Buchanan - Staff Reporter
AFTER THE absence of a medical team caused a 44-minute delay to the start of the Jamaica Women’s Premier League (JWPL) first-leg semifinal, the Everdean Scarlett-coached Cavalier outfit ran away with a 6-2 victory over Vere United at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence yesterday.
Vere United, who started the brighter of the two, opened the scoring in the 21st minute through Tashika Hamilton, who pounced upon a loose ball from goalkeeper Danielle Flake.
Spurred on after conceding, Cavalier levelled the scoring in the 35th minute through a Sheyonne Bonnick penalty. Four minutes before the halftime interval, Cavalier would go one clear with captain Rena Gordon scoring a scorcher from just outside the 18-yard box.
In second-half action, Cavalier wasted no time, making it 3-1 thanks to their creative left back Shanhaine Nelson who curled her effort inside the Vere United net in the 47th minute.
Gordon was again in the thick of things, adding Cavalier’s fourth of the evening in the 61st minute. Jynell Graham made it 5-1 in the 83rd before Gordon completed her hat trick in the 85th.
Vere United would, however, grab a consolation goal in the 88th minute as Daihla Whyte’s powerful shot crept over the line despite a valiant effort from Flake.
PLEASING PERFORMANCE
Scarlett was pleased with the performance of his team throughout.
“I’m pretty much pleased with our performance. We got some goals, which is what matters. So a four-goal margin going into the second leg is very pleasing to a coach and we couldn’t ask for anything more. My team is struggling with a lot of injuries but the girls came out and showed fight,” Scarlett stated.
Vere United’s head coach, Shomari Malcolm, believes that an unfit team and a lack of discipline were the ingredients for a less-than stellar performance on the day.
“To be honest, the girls are a bit unfit and what we did on the training ground we didn’t stick to it, so right there we lost our discipline. We just have to go back to the drawing board and come back again. We’ll have to do our homework and work on the things that we have to work on because we basically only played well in the first half. In the second half, we had a lot of tired legs and we were holding on to the ball,” said Malcolm.