Irving, Thomas strikes put Cavalier third on JPL table
Published:Thursday | January 11, 2024 | 12:08 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
THE RUDOLPH Speid-coached Cavalier surged into third place in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) following a 2-1 victory, their fifth on the trot, against Humble Lion at the Stadium East field yesterday.
Cavalier got goals in the seventh minute through Gadail Irving and in the 20th through Shaniel Thomas. Irving would give Humble Lion their consolation strike through his 37th-minute own goal.
Cavalier started the brighter of the two and came close in the opening minute through Thomas, whose snapshot was comfortably handled by Humble Lion custodian Shamal Briscoe.
The same could not be said of Irving’s powerful left-footed strike a few minutes later, the effort flying past the outstretched arms of Briscoe.
Through relentless pressing, Cavalier went up 2-0 in large part through the efforts of the skilful Dwayne Atkinson, who ran riot down the right flank to deliver a telling cross, which the Humble Lion defenders failed to clear. Thomas converted from close range.
While the Cavalier defence nullified any meaningful attack from the Humble Lion offensive line, the Vassell Reynolds-conditioned unit still got on to the scoresheet through Irving’s mistake.
Humble Lion came close to getting an equaliser when Cleo Clarke’s flashing header went inches wide time added at the end of the first half. In the second half, goal-scoring opportunities were few and far between.
NO NEED TO PANIC
Reynolds said there was no need to panic even after losing three games in a row, pointing out that the team is going through a transitional phase.
“We’re going through a transitional phase, and today, we fielded three under-19 players for the first time since the start of the competition, so you’re going to get some disjointed performances like today. However, I think we had some good signs, and we’re getting there slowly, but we expect these things. The Cavalier team is in form, and it was always going to be difficult. We played well in the second half - as defensively we were good,” Reynolds explained.
Speid said his unit was tired but that he was happy to still be notching wins.
“We started the season poorly, so we’re picking up as we get on, but it has been hard work as the team is very fatigued. However, I’m happy that the goals can come from anywhere, and it’s hard for teams to pinpoint where it’s coming from.”