DESPITE dropping points for the fourth time in the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL) season, Cavalier FC Head Coach Rudolph Speid says he’s satisfied with the team’s efforts as they seek to balance domestic and regional duties.

The JPL defending champions, without star players Richard King and Dwayne Atkinson, were held to a goalless draw by Harbour View FC at Harbour View Stadium on Sunday.

The game had limited clear-cut chances but Cavalier’s goalkeeper Jeadine White pulled off the save of the match when he denied Andre Fagan from 10 yards out.

Only eight games in, Cavalier are fourth with 16 points and remain unbeaten despite drawing three of their last four games.

They also registered their second clean sheet of the season, which was one of the positives that Speid pointed out.

“Today, we were just tired; we have been playing a lot of games. I believe we did well to keep a clean sheet — and we actually got the cleaner chances in front of goal but they didn’t go in because we didn’t have the cutting egde. But also, the pitch was really awful. So, when you’re considering that you’re playing away from home, you just take the point and go home. It was a result that we can live with,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“We’re missing King and Atkinson, who is the most productive player in the league, so missing that type of quality is a little problem but we’re not the type of team to come and say we’re not going to give our best because those players aren’t here. But this isn’t one of our better performances, [and] that’s how it goes sometimes.”

Since August, Cavalier have been participating in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup and are preparing for the final, slated for next week.

Speid says that remains their main focus at this stage of the season.

“We know which prize our eyes are on. We don’t want to run up a stack of injuries when we go and play in the [Caribbean Cup] final so we’re kind of looking [at] both competitions and sometimes, it’s distracting. But the Premier League is not a league, it’s a knockout. You just need to stay in the top six and play for the title somewhere down the road — and that’s what we’re trying to do now.”

Harbour View Head Coach Jason Henry believes his team should have walked away with the win but isn’t overly critical of the team’s performance against the national champions.

“[I’m] not 100 per cent pleased because I think we created clearer chances but, unfortunately, we didn’t put [them] away. But keeping a clean sheet should be a big boost for our defensive unit; we stood out and nullified in many ways,” Henry said.

“We just have to work on attacking inside the box, because the team that wins both boxes always wins the game. We have to use [this] as a motivation to the guys to say: ‘We have to make it difficult for teams to break us down. And when we get our chances, we have to put it in the back of the net,’ ” Henry reasoned.

SUNDAY’S RESULTS

Harbour View 0, Cavalier 0

Racing 0, Montego Bay 4

Portmore 0, Arnett Gardens 1

Vere Phoenix 2, Tivoli Gardens 2

Waterhouse 2, Humble Lion 0

Cavalier FC Head Coach Rudolph Speid (Photo: Observer file)

Harbour View Head Coach Jason Henry (Photo: Garfield Robinson)