Portmore United and Cavalier Soccer Club will be seeking first-leg advantages when they clash in their Red Stripe Premier League semi-final match at Stadium East field, starting at 6:00 pm today.

Having brushed aside Tivoli Gardens in the quarter-final play-off, Cavalier now turn their focus to Portmore United as they hunt a spot in the final in a remarkable season during which they made a return to top flight football, having been relegated in 2016.

Cavalier, in possession of a host of Jamaica’s top young talented players, were fearless in their 2-0 aggregate demolition of Tivoli Gardens at Edward Seaga Sports Complex midweek, and enter this match full of confidence.

But Portmore United are a different proposition from Tivoli Gardens and it will take a Herculean effort from Cavalier to stop them.

In three meetings this season they both shared victories. On the opening day of the season, Portmore United welcomed back Cavalier to Premier League football with a 1-0 win. Then they battled to a 0-0 draw on November 26. But Cavalier turned it around with a thumping 3-0 win on January 21 and at that point the rest of the league began to look at them seriously.

Cavalier’s Head Coach Rudolph Speid told the Jamaica Observer that this will be their biggest test for the season.

“It’s going to be a very difficult game for us. Portmore has proven to be very prolific in front of goal, scoring over 60 and conceding about 25 over the regular season; definitely they are the best team in the country at this moment. We may have gotten over a hurdle before in the play-off, but this will be the most difficult game for the entire season,” Speid said.

Speid was quick to note that despite playing Portmore three times and coming away with an emphatic 3-0 win in their last meeting, it’s all squared going into today’s match.

“No, it doesn’t count for anything. If you remember Tivoli, we didn’t beat them for 11 games; so it really doesn’t count for anything because we were looking at different combinations. We had a new team and were trying to sort out our best team, and I am sure they were doing the same thing,” said Speid.

He continued: “On the day a lot of numbers can play. So on the day it is who play best going to come out with the best result. You cannot approach this game thinking about only this game. It’s a game for 180 minutes.”

Cavalier will once again depend on Chevone Marsh, Alex Marshall, Paul Wilson, Kaheem Parris, Nique Daley, Nicholas Hamilton, Kemar Shaw, Jamoi Topey, David Mitchell, Clifton Woodbine, Sheldon McKoy, Gadail Irving, Kamoy Simpson, Michael Spence and Omar Thompson.

The Shavar Thomas-led Portmore United is a well-oiled machine, winning 20 of the 33 regular season games and, following a Saturday morning training session, the coach said they are raring to go.

“No injuries; everybody is good. Players are ready and can’t wait for tomorrow,” said Thomas, the former Reggae Boyz captain.

“It should be an exciting one for the fans. My team is ready mentally, physically. We are ready to go out there and deliver,” he noted.

“At this point of the season Xs and Os go through the door, it’s about who wants it most —the team that is most prepared and ready for the challenge at hand,” Thomas reiterated.

Portmore, last season’s beaten finalist, will start favourites and rightly so. They will be depending on goalkeeper Shaven Paul, as well as Damono Solomon, Rosario Harriott, Osani Ricketts, Roberto Johnson, Ewan Grandison, Kemar Philpott, Chevanny Willis, Venton Evans, Henrico Ricketts, Saneekie Burton, Ricardo Morris, Maalique Foster, Jermie Lynch, Javon East, Rondee Smith, Kemar Foster, Shaquille Dyer, Roshane Sharpe and Shai Smith.