Cavalier FC Head Coach Rudolph Speid is hoping the lack of ideal preparation won’t be too evident as they take on many-time former champions Arnett Gardens in the first leg of the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League semi-finals at Sabina Park. Kick-off is slated for 5:00 this
evening.

On the final day of the regular season, last season’s beaten finalists Cavalier secured second spot over Tivoli Gardens which secured their automatic semi-final berth. But with that came a four-week break, a concern for some coaches due to the inactivity. Speid, though, believes the break was a good one for his team.

“We definitely needed the rest. We were just too busy and we really never got a break after last year, because the competition ended in June and by July we were back in training because of the Concacaf Club Championship. So when you add all of those — plus we had a small squad for long periods of time — we were desperate to really get the rest. It’s a little too long — a week’s extra rest would have been [better] — but we needed the rest, so I prefer the rest more than complaining about the break,” he said.

Speid conceded his players might not be match-sharp due to the lack of practice games during the break.

“We were not able to get any good practice games against top-class opposition because there’s not much around. The other [JPL] teams that dropped out would have stopped training, and some of the Tier Two teams, the better ones, were either far away or occupied. So I expect us to have a bit of rust in the first game, I hope we can play through that period,” he said.

In 26 games, Cavalier had the second-best offensive record with 48 goals and were just one of three teams which conceded fewer than 20 goals. They’ve also gone unbeaten against fifth-placed Arnett this season, which included a 3-0 win in January. However, their last game in March ended 2-2, with Cavalier having to come from behind twice. Last season Arnett got the better of Cavalier home and away while finishing top of the table.

Speid says his side will be looking to turn the tables on Arnett over both legs.

“What you need is an advantage at the end of both rounds. It’s a long game, it’s 180 minutes,” he said. “Arnett is one of the teams that beat us most times, it’s one of the teams that we don’t have a good track record against… We know what we’re up against, we’ll be wary of them,” he said.

In his first season of top-flight men’s football, Xavier Gilbert led the “Junglists” into the last four after toppling Portmore United in the play-offs.

After what he’s seen this season, he’s confident Arnett can thwart Cavalier.

“I believe in my ability, I believe in my players, and that’s the greatest motivation. Believe in yourself first, and then it’s up to you to then put the pieces together. We continue to do that. It’s not perfect but every player has stepped in. There’s so many players that played for us this season, a lot of players got a lot of exposure and experience at this level. We still have injuries, but players have stepped up,” he said.

Gilbert, though, was coy in terms of his plans for his opponents.

“There are a few things we still have to work on. Every game you play, there’s something you probably need to work on. I won’t say that now but we know there are some things we have to work, on and we’re going to do that,” he said.

Cavalier will be looking for goals from the likes of marksmen Jalmaro Calvin, Dwayne “Busy” Atkinson, and Shaniel Thomas, who have combined for 22 goals this season, while Arnett Captain Fabian Reid will be hoping to add to his 12 strikes for the campaign so far.