Frazier’s Whip FC Coach Xavier Gilbert has expressed his team’s confidence, saying that his players are in good spirits and looking forward to defeating Olympic Gardens FC in today’s rescheduled first-leg, semi-final match of the Jamaica Women’s Premier League (JWPL).

The game is scheduled to begin at 3:00 pm at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence. The second leg is scheduled for May 10 at the same venue. The winner will face Cavalier FC on June 17 in the final, which is planned for the same location.

The Frazier’s Whip-Olympic Gardens match-up was initially scheduled for May 20, but was postponed because numerous Frazier’s Whip players were on national duty in the Dominican Republic with the Under-20 Reggae Girlz.

On national duty were Andrene Smith, Shaneil Buckley, Davia Richards, Tiny Seaton, Natoya Atkinson, Destiny Powell, Akeila Johnson, and Janiel Mignott.

Gilbert stated that while two of his returning players (Seaton and Mignott) are likely to miss the game owing to injuries acquired while playing for the national team, the group has enough talent to go through Olympic Gardens.

“I mean, it’s a good feeling ahead of the semi-final against Olympic Gardens,” Gilbert told the Jamaica Observer. “But we might be missing a few of our players because they got injured while on national duty.”

“As a result, we’re hurting in that department, but we’ll do our best. I still believe we have the necessary personnel to come out with three points,” the tactician added.

Gilbert stated that his team’s training has been good, and after recently defeating Olympic Gardens twice in the semi-finals of the JWPL Knockout competition, it should be smooth sailing for his squad.

“We manage to do our little thing, but with so many of them [players] out, training was never the same, and I am glad they are back,” he said.

“But they’ve just returned from a tournament, so it’s recovery time for them, and hopefully everything will be fine,” Gilbert added.

— Ruddy Allen