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Cavalier technical director Rudolph Speid has revealed that he will be taking a cautious approach when his team faces Tivoli Gardens in their Jamaica Premier League (JPL) first-leg semi-final match today at the UWI-JFF/Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, starting at noon.
Speid believes the west Kingston-based Tivoli are the in-form team at the moment, noting that they have only lost once this season while Cavalier have not beaten them in their last four attempts.
He also pointed out that none of the play-off qualifiers have got the better of Tivoli this season and that their (Cavalier’s) intention is to come out of the first leg still in the tie.
“We are up against Tivoli who I think are the form team now. They have only lost one match for the entire season, so whoever makes the least mistakes I think will win.
“But we are prepared and we will still come out in our usual manner and do what we have to do and see how it goes,” he said.
He said the addition of Stephen Barnett and Trayvone Reid, who netted Tivoli’s first two goals against Vere in their second-leg tie on Wednesday, have made Tivoli a greater attacking force while his team will be without their most consistent attacker, Ronaldo Webster, who has not fully recovered from injury.
“They have strengthened their team with new players, so we are wary that we are going to be up against it from the word go
“They have lost only one game and none of the teams in the top six have beat them, so that alone speaks volumes and they have brought in reinforcement in Barrett and Reid.
“So they have improved their squad and we will have our work cut out dealing with them,” he commented.
“One of our most important player, Webster, will be out and it will take something from us but we are coming to fight. We will manage it cautiously but we will not just come to survive, we will come to play our normal flowing possession game and attack and see how it goes,” he insisted.
‘DANGEROUS’ UNIT
Technical director of Tivoli FC, Glendon ‘Admiral’ Bailey, said Cavalier are a very ‘dangerous’ unit that they cannot take lightly.
“Cavalier are a good young team but very dangerous and we will not be taking them for granted.
“We know their style, so we will put things in place so we can nullify them,” he said.
He admitted that they have some issues to work out defensively but he believes the return of Barrett and Reid in recent weeks has made them even stronger.
“Some things we need to work on defensively. But we are going to play our football and allow them to stop us
“Those two players (Reid and Barnett) are not at a 100 per cent but when they are fully fit they are going to be two very dangerous players.
“So the coaching staff is trying to get them sharp and improve their level of fitness as quickly as possible to get them ready for Cavalier,” he added.
Along with Reid and Barrett, Tivoli will look to Devroy Grey, Horatio Morgan (four goals each) and veteran Jermaine ‘Teddy’ Johnson, who has made a major impact from the bench.
With Webster out Cavalier will look to Shaniel Thomas (four goals), Dwayne Atkinson (three goals), Courtney Allen and Melvin Doxilly to break down the Tivoli defence.
livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com
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