‘We will have to challenge them’

ANDRAE CAMPBELL’S second-minute strike was enough for Racing United to take all three points against defending champions Cavalier in their Jamaica Premier League (JPL) game at Ferdie Neita Park yesterday.

Campbell latched on to a cross from the right and although his initial effort was blocked by the goalkeeper, the player followed up the effort and squeezed the ball under the custodian to give his team the lead after only two minutes.

The result pushed Racing four places up the table to eighth on 11 points, and coach, Anthony Patrick, was pleased the see his team take one of the big scalps in the JPL.

“This is something that we are always talking to the players about. There are some top teams that we need to get points from.

“We are going to play them (each team) three times and if we cannot get seven or nine points, we hope we can get four points and we can work with that.

“But we cannot just give top teams our points. Those teams, we will have to challenge them,” he said.

After taking the early lead, Cavalier pushed back the home team who spent most of the game on the defensive.

Nevertheless, Patrick thought they applied themselves well tactically to see out the match.

GOOD TACTICAL GAME

“We played a very good tactical game today and we asked the players to give their all and it was a blessing to see the players adapt to the new system so quickly after one training session.

“But no one wants to lose and when you look at how the team lost badly sometimes you have to wonder. But we got a very big three points today and that is very important and it is a moral booster going forward,” he added.

Meanwhile, Cavalier coach Rudolph Speid said his team created enough chances to get a result from the game. But said that the opponent’s defensive strategy proved difficult to break down.

“We missed a lot of goals. We just didn’t have the cutting edge because the players are either tired or distracted

“All their 11 players were around the box or inside the box. There was just no room to create any real chances.

“It was the same with Harbour View. They parked the bus. All the teams say we are a fast-breaking team so they cannot give us the chance to break,” he commented.

Cavalier stayed sixth on 16 points, five clear of Harbour View in seventh, and Speid said they will learn from the defeat and look ahead to their next game, the first leg of the Caribbean Cup final, next Tuesday.

“We will not focus on that (defeat) right now. We will come back to that later. We will focus on the next game.

“You always learn a lot from losing more than what you learn from winning. We saw some things we have to work on so we are going to work on them

“We are still in the top six. So we are not really worried about it right now. We just turn our attention to the next game

“Some things we have to correct and we will work on it because we know it is better opposition that we will be coming up against. So we have put it behind us and trying to move on as quickly as possible,” he added.

The JPL continues tomorrow with Dunbeholden hosting Tivoli Gardens at the Dunbeholden Sports Complex.

That game begins at 3:00 p.m.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com