Cavalier pass tough test at Sabina Park
Published:Friday | September 1, 2023 | 12:10 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
THE Rudolph Speid-coached Cavalier SC got their first victory of the 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Club Championships following a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Trinidad and Tobago’s Athletic Club Port-of-Spain at Sabina Park last night in matchday two of Group A.
Cavalier, who started the brighter of the two, sent warning signs as early as the eighth minute as 20-year-old Antiguan Jalmaro Calvin calmly converted his effort following a neat all-round team build-up play.
AC Port-of-Spain had a goalscoring opportunity of their own in the 17th minute, but Jameel Neptune’s effort went wide of the goal. Eight minutes later, Neptune again was in the thick of things but was only denied this time around by the brilliance of the Cavalier goalkeeper, Vino Barclett. On the stroke of halftime, Barclett was again called into action as Tyrone Charles’ trickery in the box almost gifted the opposition their equaliser. In the 60th minute, a counterattack sent Cavalier 2-0 up as Christopher Ainsworth converted his chance. AC Port-of-Spain got their consolation goal in the 71st minute courtesy of a Duane Muckette header.
Coach Speid said he was happy to have got the three points despite having sluggish periods of play.
“We were doing some things wrong, but then we had two young players in the centre of the field who have not played at this level before today, and that was a problem. In the second half, we sort of fixed it, but it’s a long road, and we are happy with the victory” Speid stated.
Speid added that this tournament would be used as part of the preparation for the new Jamaica Premier League season as he hopes the attacking prowess of Nicholas Hamilton will come to the fore sooner rather than later.
“It will be good for us as we will be getting good match practice, and it also gives us an opportunity to help some of the players along. He (Hamilton, 27) is the oldest player we have, and we brought him back for his experience, and you can see that he is pure class,” Speid said.
Cavalier’s next match is against Moca FC of the Dominican Republic on September 19.