Defender Kyle Ming scored in the 84th minute to hand Cavalier a hard-fought 1-0 win over Vere United and seal a semi-final spot in the Jamaica Premier League on Saturday.

During the match played at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, Ming latched onto a beautiful defence-splitting pass from Melvin Doxilly and fired past the advancing goalkeeper Kadeem Davis.

It was a crucial win for Cavalier that saw them leapfrog both Tivoli Gardens and Mount Pleasant into second place and an automatic semi-final playoff spot. With their fifth win of the season, Cavalier now have 18 points, the same as Mount Pleasant but with a superior goal difference.

Waterhouse FC leads the league with 19 points.

Clarendon-based Vere United was suffering their fourth defeat and remained in fifth on 15 points.

This result also means that both Waterhouse and Cavalier will earn a bye into the semi-finals as the top two teams while Vere United will clash with fourth-placed Tivoli Gardens in the two-legged quarter-final playoff.

The other quarterfinal playoff will see third-placed Mount Pleasant will meet sixth-placed Harbour View also over two legs.

The winners of these two playoff series will face Waterhouse and Cavalier in the semi-final round.

Winning coach Rudolph Speid of Cavalier was satisfied with his young team improving with every game.

“We were playing too conservative because we were aware of the counter but in the second half, if you noticed, Kyle Ming started pushing up a lot more, getting more aggressive with his runs and that was a plan for us and it paid off,” Speid explained.

“Early in the season, we were playing for players to have personal milestones but in the latter, it’s all teamwork now and we playing for the team now.”

Meanwhile, losing coach Donovan Duckie said there is nothing they could have done to prevent that goal as the pass was world-class.

“It was a brilliant pass. It’s been a while since I have seen a pass break three lines and kudos to Cavalier. They would have advanced to the second spot and we are in the top six,” said Duckie.

“We are looking forward to the first game in the quarterfinal and we are looking to return to full strength. Our short term goals are there and it is a reality for us to compete for the title and we are in it to win it.”  

 Tivoli Gardens charged into the Jamaica Premier League playoffs on the back of a brilliant hat-trick by Horatio Morgan in their 4-3 win over Humble Lion in their match at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Saturday.

The 22-year-old Morgan, who was scoring for the first time this season, opened the scoring with an overhead kick in the fifth minute and followed up with a thumping header in the 30th minute. Ten minutes later, he curled a beautiful right-footer for his third.

Lorenzo Lewin pulled one back on the stroke of half-time from a corner kick then teed up Andre Clennon for an easy tap home in minute 63. However, Devroy Grey restored Tivoli Gardens’ two-goal cushion after benefitting from a poor pass by Humble Lion’s goalkeeper Keneil Petri in the 85^th minute.

It was Grey’s fourth goal of the season and he remained his club’s top scorer.

In time added on, Lewin popped up and slotted home for Humble Lion for his second goal of the match and ensured a nervous finish for Tivoli Gardens.

It was Tivoli Gardens’ fourth win from nine games which saw them jump from seventh to second spot with 16 points. They are level on points with leaders Waterhouse FC but second on goal difference.

The hapless and ageing Humble Lion remained firmly at the bottom of the 11-team league on six points following their eighth defeat from 10 games.

Tivoli Gardens will play Molynes United in their final preliminary round match next week and are fancied to secure a victory that would see them book a top-two spot and direct entry into the semi-finals.

Dunbeholden FC was held to a 1-1 draw by a struggling Arnett Gardens and missed a glorious

chance of staking a claim in the top-six championship playoffs on Saturday.

St Catherine-based Dunbeholden knew a win against Arnett Gardens would have secured them a spot in the playoffs but they now will have to anxiously wait until their final preliminary round game to book a spot.

The Harold Thomas-coached side with the single point inched up to 15 points but more importantly, they jumped two places to fifth and provisionally into a playoff spot.

Dwayne Smith had given them the lead in the 51st minute firing home from a Rondee Smith pass. However, Arnett Gardens rallied when Shandane Lopez slotted home in the 73rd minute with an assist from Steve Clarke.

The Alex Thomas-coached side that was already out of a playoff spot now has eight points and remained in ninth position. The former champions are yet to beat a Dunbeholden team playing in just their second season of top-flight football.

Dunbeholden will end their preliminary round with a tough match against a Mount Pleasant team also looking to secure their playoff position.

Arnett Gardens will definitely be in the bottom playoff amongst teams ranked 7-11 for final positioning.

Next week, Arnett Gardens will play a Harbour View team sitting in eighth spot on 12 points and still harbouring hopes of making the playoff.

Waterhouse FC thrashed Molynes United 4-1 to secure a place in the Jamaica Premier League playoffs in the first match of a triple-header at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Friday.

Waterhouse FC whipped Arnett Gardens 4-1 and to climb into third spot following their Jamaica Premier League match at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Saturday.

Tivoli Gardens moved into a playoff spot Saturday following a hard-fought 1-0 win over league leaders Vere United at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.

Humble Lion became the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention in the Jamaica Premier League after they crashed 2-1 to Dunbeholden FC in the second of three games at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence earlier today.

In-form striker Oquassa Chong scored in the 74th minute to steer Harbour View to a 1-0 win over Molynes United in their Jamaica Premier League match at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre earlier today.

Atapharoy Bygrave scored arguably the goal of the season that earned Dunbeholden FC a fortunate 1-1 draw with Tivoli Gardens in the feature match of the Jamaica Premier League at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Tuesday.

Romaine Bowers had given Tivoli Gardens a 9th-minute lead, slotting home from close range after William Benjamin parried Devroy Grey’s fierce shot into his path in the ninth minute.

But Bygrave picked up a ball just below halfline and unleashed a ferocious shot that sailed past the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Davin Watkins on the stroke of halftime in the 45+2 minute.

It was a wonder strike by Bygrave and it was just as impressive as his celebration where he

would have been given a 10 out of 10 for his somersault and perfect landing.

Bygrave’s goal was worthy of a share of the points although, in truth, Tivoli Gardens should

have won comfortably as they wasted a number of chances.

Arnett Gardens stunned champions Portmore United with an exciting come-from-behind 3-1 win in their Jamaica Premier League (JLP) encounter at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Monday.

Earl Simpson scored an own goal that gave Portmore United a 17th-minute lead but Man of the Match Donovan Segree and Jonoy Cunningham scored in the 19th and 27th minutes, respectively to put Arnett Gardens 2-1 before substitute Shadane Lopez sealed the victory in the 88th minute.

Simpson bundled in a Chavany Willis free-kick that gave Portmore the lead but Arnett responded in style. Segree fed Cunningham with a beautiful pass and the defender-turned-forward pulled Arnett level.

Segree was just getting started. He scored one of the goals of the season, a free-kick that curled into the top right-hand corner, giving goalkeeper Kemar Foster no chance. He later released Lopez, who fired low and hard past Foster to secure the stunning win for Arnett Gardens that saw them climb off the bottom of the table into ninth spot on seven points. The ‘Junglists’ are now just two points adrift of the last playoff spot held currently by Tivoli Gardens on nine points.

Portmore United, meantime, missed out on going top of the league and a place in the playoffs. The loss means that remain in second on 13 points from eight games after suffering their third defeat of the season.

Humble Lion climbed off the bottom of the table with a convincing 2-0 win over Harbour View Sunday and reignited their slim chances of making the Jamaica Premier League playoffs.

Goals from Man of the Match Andrew Vanzie from the penalty spot in 61st minute and substitute Levaughn Williams in the 87th minute propelled the Clarendon-based to just their second win of the season.

Vanzie expertly dispatched the penalty after goalkeeper Akeem Smith was adjudged by referee Kevin Morrison to have fouled Andre Clennon. It was Vanzie’s third goal of the season and his second from the penalty spot.

Then Williams, who replaced Javane Thompson in the 65th minute, sealed the victory when he tapped home from close range with the Harbour View defence all over the place.

It was a most crucial win for Humble Lion as their six points see them climb from 11th to 10th but, more importantly, they are just three points from of a top-six playoff spot.

Holding that last playoff spot is the tumbling Harbour View that lost their third match of the season and is sitting in sixth spot on nine points. With log jam in the middle of the table, the battle for the playoff positions is heating up as even bottom-placed Arnett Gardens on four points are still in contention.

The Clarendon-based Humble Lion, the usual standard-bearers of the parish, has been upstaged by the less established Vere United that sits atop of the Jamaica Premier League with 14 points and has basically already secured a spot into the playoffs.

Vere United, formerly Jamalco FC, has emerged as the top team in Clarendon which was confirmed by their 3-1 win over Humble Lion in the second round.

Andrew Price has stuck with the task and there is now hope for Humble Lion.

It was a very good win over the Stars of the East led by captain Andrew Vanzie, Andre Clennon, Afiba Chambers, Lorenzo Lewin, Leonardo Jibbison and Levaughn Wiliams.

But this could have been different had it not been for some outstanding goalkeeping from Humble Lion’s captain Dennis Taylor who made some important saves throughout the game, especially in the first half when he denied Lennox Russell and top marksman Oquassa Chong on the stroke of half time.

Waterhouse FC blanked Mount Pleasant FA 2-0 in Saturday’s clash between two Jamaica Premier League heavyweights at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.

Waterhouse and Tivoli Gardens played to a draw in the final fixture of matchday 5 of the Jamaica Premier League (JPL).

Playing at the Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence in St. Andrew, both teams could only manage one goal each to split the points.

Both goals came in the second half. Waterhouse struck first with a strike from Andre Fletcher in the 63rd minute. Fletcher received the ball at the top of the 18 yard box and turned past the defender to go on and finish off the move in comfortable fashion after tucking the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.

However, it took just only a minute for Tivoli to find the equaliser. Devroy Grey scored a header after a cross from substitute Anthony Nelson in the 64th minute.

Waterhouse dominated the majority of the possession during the game and finished with 15 shots, 4 of which were on target, while Tivoli attempted 7 shots, with only 2 being on target.

Tivoli defender Odeon Pennycooke was named man of the match.

Even so, he believes he could have done more to prevent the goal.

“He caught me flat-footed. I believe if I was on my toes I would have been able to stop the goal,” Pennycooke said when asked about Grey getting by him so easy to score.

The draw means that Waterhouse remains in 6th place with 7 points, while Tivoli are 8th with 6. Round 6 starts on Saturday with Waterhouse taking the field again to face Humble Lion F.C. and leaders Portmore United battling Harbour View.

A Kesslon Hall header gave Mount Pleasant FA a hard-fought 1-0 win over Arnett Gardens in the second game of the Jamaica Premier League doubleheader at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Sunday.

Portmore United FC continued their impressive run in the Jamaica Premier League on Sunday, defeating Humble Lion 3-0 at the UWI/JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.