The clash between Cavalier and Portmore United was also a contest which paired two namesakes against each other — Rudolph Speid and Rodolph Austin.

But this is where the similarities end.

In what could be described as a chess match between a veteran coach in Speid, who had won it all, and the emerging tactician, Austin, a former Reggae Boyz captain, who is looking to scale the coaching summit, both coaches are trying to lead their respective clubs into the semi-final of the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League.

Where Speid is coming from, that’s where Austin wants to go.

Speid is desperately holding on to his league and, by extension, Caribbean titles, while Austin will have to stop Speid en route to that glory.

Portmore United Head Coach Rodolph Austin.

Both teams battled to a 1-1 draw on Friday night as former Cavalier player Ronaldo Robinson netted for Portmore with an unstoppable shot in the 26th minute.

It was a strike worthy of a Goal of the Season nomination after Adrian Reid miscontrolled a ball that rolled into the path of Robinson, who struck it first time from 20 metres, giving goalkeeper Vino Bacrlett no chance.

Cavalier, however, showed their championship mettle and pulled level in the 35th minute with a glancing header from Jerome McLeary.

Cavalier could have and should have stolen it at the end, as Dwayne “Busy” Campbell fired over the bar of an empty goal from close range in the 89th minute.

Speid believes there is not much between the teams because of the quality coaches the Jamaica Football Federation coaching school is producing.

“We are producing some top coaches from the coaching school and nothing surprises me anymore,” Speid told the Jamaica Observer.

He continued: “They played very well, but we should have won it as we got some chances late on.”

“It was a game of two halves. We were not picking up their movements, as they were swift, but after a while they started to tire and I thought in the second half we really took control of the game, got some really good looks, but unfortunately, we didn’t score,” he reiterated.

Portmore, with the likes of Robinson, Cardel Benbow, and Romeo Guthrie gave Cavalier a lot to think about as they turned in arguably their best performance as a team this season.

However, once again, Portmore’s poor shooting let them down, having scored just 46 goals from 39 games, by far the lowest of the top six play-off teams.

“I don’t think they’re trying to miss, but that has been our downfall in the season,” Austin noted.

“We don’t score much but at least we are creating the chances then, and hopefully we can score them when it really matters,” Austin pointed out.

“We’re playing against a very good team. As I said before, we’re playing the best team in the Caribbean so we just have to respect what they can do and evaluate the situation,” he added.

Both teams will meet on Monday at Sabina Park, and one will be eliminated where all hopes, aspirations, and dreams could be dashed.