BOTH coaches, Rudolph Speid of defending champions Cavalier and Xavier Gilbert of Arnett Gardens, were disappointed after their 1-1 draw in their first-leg semi-final of the Jamaica Premier League played at Montego Bay Sports Complex on Thursday.

Arnett Gardens rallied late to tie up the game after Cavalier led 1-0 at the half-time break, and they will have it all to do on Sunday at Sabina Park.

Jerome McLeary gave Cavalier the lead in the 27th minute before Arnett Gardens’ lethal striker Warner Brown poached an equaliser in the 81st minute, setting up a winner-take-all game on Sunday.

Speid, who said his team was showing the wear and tear of 96 games over the last 22 months, said, “I think we should have had the game out of sight long time,” adding, “selfishness in front of the goal and our inability to shoot the ball when we have the chances” cost them.

He claimed his team was denied a penalty when striker Dwayne Atkinson went down in the Arnett Gardens box just before the equaliser.

“My players did as well as they could,” Speid said. “Based on all we have done, this is our 96th game in one year and 10 months so we will have issues with keeping fresh. But, I think the boys got stuck in and they tried their best to win the game, and its a pity we didn’t get to take the lead.”

Gilbert was not pleased with the result.

“To be honest, I didn’t think we performed well. Absolutely disappointed with the way we performed,” he said. “I mean, things that we spoke about, things that were practised, we went awry and for that, I’m disappointed. The players didn’t show that level of energy and tenacity that we should show at the start of the game — especially in the first half — and hence, we eventually went behind.”

But Gilbert said they were able to make amends.

“We were a lot better in terms of energy with some adjustments and the change of some personnel, and I thought that paid dividends for us tonight. Our decision-making in the final third, again, has to get better.”

Looking ahead, Gilbert said they will look back at the game.

“We have talked about some of the things that we did and some that we can improve on, we spoke to to the players and we know we can do better in Sunday’s game,” he said.

Arnett Gardens started well and had some early chances, with Brown firing across the face of the Cavalier goal in the 21st minute.

Cavalier grabbed the lead when McLeary steered a cross from the left side into the far corner.

Atkinson came close to adding to Cavalier’s lead in the 53rd minute after he shot wide when a brilliant solo effort took him past four defenders.

Brown handed Arnett Gardens a lifeline when he scored the equaliser inside the final 10 minutes, firing home from a goalmouth melee.