CATHERINE HALL, St James — Promoted Cavalier SC scored their first win of the Red Stripe Premier League season (RSPL), at the expense of a slow-starting Montego Bay United (MBU), in a 2-1 scoreline on Sunday evening at the Montego Bay Sports Complex.

After losing their first two games by similar 1-0 margins, Cavalier SC raced to a 2-0 lead inside the first 30 minutes with opportunistic goals from Michael Spence and Nicholas Hamilton. Their Head coach Rudolph Speid described the win as “team effort”, as they condemned the former champions to back-to-back losses for the first time.

Odane Nish, who was an early second-half substitute, scored his first goal at the Premier League level within seconds of entering the field, to save face for MBU.

Despite the losses in the previous games, Speid insisted that his team was always playing well.

“We have always played well. We dominated both games we lost, so we just continued to pass the ball around. It’s just that the players continue to believe in the system and [do] not rush to play any other way,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Rod Underwood, the MBU coach, said they did not do enough in the first half to win the game but pointed to improvements in the second half.

“We brought on the goal- scorer in the second half and told them they have got to have some heart, play with heart, and desire and drive the team forward,” he said.

Like his counterpart, the American thinks his team is not far off despite having just one point from three games, their second-worst start to a premier league season.

It was the first win for Cavalier SC over MBU in Montego Bay since the 2014-15 season. It moved the Kingston-based club to ninth spot in the points table, one place above MBU who are just above the relegation zone.

On Sunday, it did not take long for Cavalier SC to break their season-long goal drought as Spence headed home a ball that came back off the crossbar 10 minutes in.

They doubled the lead in the 29th minute when Hamilton finished off a slick move down the left-hand side by guiding the ball past goalkeeper David Swaby at the near post.

With its back to the wall, the home team came out guns blazing in the second half and a curious substitution paid immediate dividends.

Nish, who had started the previous game against Boys’ Town, replaced Hietolah Gardner less than a minute in the second half. He was well placed seconds later to punch the ball into the Cavalier goal.

The goal seemed to spark the home team and with the crowd urging them on, they took the fight to Cavalier, forcing them back in their own half.

Anthony Marks, who was a first-half substitute wasted a good scoring chance in the 63rd minute when he beat an offside trap just across the half line. Despite having goalkeeper Peter Harrison at his mercy, he poked the ball wide of the near left-hand post.

Teams:

Montego Bay United — David Swaby, Dwayne Ambusley, John Barrett, Anthony Drummond, Ranaldo Thompson, Nicholas Stewart, Keneil Kirlew, Lesly St Fleur, Jefroy Leslie (Jermaine Woozencroft 66th), Raeem Pringle (Anthony Mark 31st), Hietolah Gardner (Odane Nish 47th)

Subs not used: Jacomeno Barrett, Dave Artwell, Javoy McLeod, Omar Brown

Booked: none

Cavalier — Peter Harrison, Kemar Shaw, Rushawn Plummer, Michael Spence (Marlon Laing 86th), Oshane Roberts, Omar Walcott, Laston Reid, Nicholas Hamilton (Orlando Brown 89th), Dejanni Isaacs, George Pinnock (Kemmoy Phillips 89th), Nickoy Christian

Subs not used: David Mitchell, Vasbert Harry, Nykoli Burke

Booked: Reid (85th)

Referee: Kevin Morrison

Assistants: Richard Washington, Melvin Reid

Fourth official: Derron Davy

Match commissary: Linnel McLean