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Cavalier have Arnett in their sights
December 12, 2024
Cavalier will look to make up ground on the front-runners when they face off against Arnett Gardens in a rescheduled Jamaica Premier League (JPL) match at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex at 7 p.m. today.
The defending champions are on 19 points (sixth), five clear of Dunbeholden in seventh but eight off second-place and today's opponents Arnett Gardens and nine adrift of leaders Mount Pleasant.
Cavalier thrashed Molynes 5-1 on their return to the JPL on Sunday, after a two-week absence due to their involvement and eventual success in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup. Coach Rudolph Speid said he was stunned by the margin of victory as they are still in recovery mode physically and psychologically from their Caribbean Cup sojourn.
The club also have three games in hand and will have midweek matches as well as weekend games for the next two weeks.
"We are still kind of tired but we are going to turn up and give the best we can. We have some concerns (about Arnett) as they are really in form and unbeaten in nine games. However, we will see what they are doing and we will come up with a plan," he said.
"We have a packed schedule of games so we are running the gauntlet. We were surprised at the score (against Molynes) but we will not lay down although we know we are not back at a 100 per cent."
Arnett have been the form team of the league with six straight wins. They are also unbeaten in nine games, and a win this evening would see them replacing Mount Pleasant on top of the table.
However, Arnett Gardens coach Xavier Gilbert expects a difficult game.
"Cavalier are a very difficult opposition. They are in good form, they are very good at their transitional game and they are extremely good at what they do and this is why they are Caribbean Cup Champions.
"We are mindful of that and, hopefully, on the day any weakness or anything we can exploit we will. But we will have to stop their transitional play and counter-attacks. They are very good at it and we have to curtail them as much as we can," Gilbert said.
Although the form of his forwards is encouraging, with Warner Brown joint top scorer in the league it his defence that Gilbert is more concerned about.
"They have stepped up to the plate on a few occasions, and defensively we have not been bad. We have only conceded one goal in the last four games and we want to keep that going.
"Cavalier have managed a goal in every game except one. So we know offensively how threatening they can be and we just have to prepare ourselves mentally, physically and tactically to curtail that," the Arnett Gardens coach said.
