Defending champions Cavalier got the new Jamaica Premier League season underway with a win against Arnett Gardens FC in an enthralling encounter at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence in Kingston.
Central defender, Jamoi Topey, gave Cavalier the lead in the 60th minute before Chavany Willis got an equaliser that he thought would salvage a draw in the 96th minute.
Cavalier forward Shaniel Thomas had other ideas as he slotted home a right-footed effort in the 97th minute to secure a win and three points for the two-time champions.
The second match on Sunday was also an exciting one between four-time champions Waterhouse FC and Montego Bay United, who have also won the title four times.
Montego Bay United took the lead in the 57th minute through Giovanni Reid before Waterhouse equalised in the 72nd minute through an Andre Fletcher penalty.
Waterhouse completed the comeback in the 81st minute through a goal from Devroy Grey. The action then shifted to Monday, January 17 with two more matches.
Dunbeholden FC and Vere United FC contested the first game with Dunbeholden securing a 2-1 victory.
They took the lead in the eighth minute through an excellent header from Atapharoy Bygrave before Lampard Neil tied things up for Vere in the 57th minute.
Substitute Jahmiel Hardware secured the three points for Dunbeholden with a well-placed free kick in the 92nd minute.
In the second match, goals from Warner Brown in the 42nd minute and Shai Smith in the 87th minute ensured that five-time winners Tivoli Gardens FC and seven-time winners Portmore United FC played out a 1-1 draw.
On Tuesday, four-time champions Harbour View FC and Molynes United FC played out a 2-2 draw thanks to double strikes from Trayvon Reid and Nicholas Nelson.
Nelson gave Molynes United the lead in the 42nd minute before Reid made it 1-1 in the 45th minute.
The 58th minute saw Nelson get his second to give Molynes United a 2-1 lead before Reid once again equalized in the 90th minute to ensure the points were shared.
In the second game on the day, goals from Daniel Green in the 14th and 43rd minutes, as well as strikes from Allan Ottey in the 17th, Ricardo Morris in the 45th, and Donovan Segree in the 90th helped Mount Pleasant FA secure the biggest win of the round, a 5-1 rout of Humble Lion FC.
Cory Hylton got Humble Lion’s consolation goal in the 83rd minute.
The second round of matches kicks off on Saturday.
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 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.
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.
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.
Two goals in four minutes spurred Cavalier to a 3-0 win over Arnett Gardens as actions continued in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) at the JFF-UWI/Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence on Saturday.
After playing second fiddle for most of the game, Cavalier struck decisively in the 52nd minute when Shaniel Thomas slotted home from a Ronaldo Webster cross. Four minutes later, Melvin Doxilly’s scissor kick made it 2-0. Thomas would his second goal in the 79th minute slotting home from close range after Dwayne Atkinson’s shot rebounded off the crossbar.
It was a brilliant build-up involving Atkinson, who combined well with Kamoy Simpson to split the Arnett backline.
The win meant that Cavalier moved to the top of the JPL standings with seven points from four games while Arnett Gardens remained in eighth spot on three points from three games.
It was their first loss to Cavalier in their last five meetings, Arnett Gardens should have taken the lead in the sixth minute when Steve Clarke picked out Renaldo Cephas in the box but the latter dragged his shot wide.
They would dominate the half taking 11 shots at goal. Cavalier, meanwhile, failed to register a single shot.
Arnett began the second half well with Hardley Barnes firing just wide in the 48th minute.
However, Cavalier gradually began to turn things around and ended the game brilliantly by a margin that could have been wider Shaniel Thomas’ goal not been ruled out for offside.
St Lucian defender Melvin Doxilly, who started in midfield, was named Man-of-the-Match for his scissor-kick goal.
“It was an amazing goal. I told myself I will score today and I want to say thanks to the Most High for making me score my goal today,” said Doxilly.
Meanwhile, Cavalier’s assistant coach Everdean Scarlett was happy for the win. “It’s a game of two halves. The first half they had the better of us but at half-time, we went in and made some changes. We decided that we are going to press Arnett more and get into the spaces,” said Scarlett.
Losing coach Alex Thomas said his young team still has a lot to learn.
“We have to learn to play both halves, first and second. We played a wonderful first half and in the second we came out flat and gave up some simple goals. But we have to learn, they are young and we are in a rebuilding process and we just have to keep working.”
Former champions Arnett Gardens came from behind to beat Humble Lion 2-1 in an exciting encounter in the final game of round three of the Jamaica Premier League at the Stadium East field on Monday.
Former Arnett Gardens star, Vishinul Harris opened the scoring for his new club Humble Lion in the 8th minute. But goals by Jonoy Cunningham (14th) and Renaldo Cephas (75th) turned it around for the Junglists.
Harris latched on to a Levaughn Williams defense-splitting pass and slotted home, but Cunningham pulled Arnett Gardens level with a thumping header from an Oshane Roberts corner kick.
Then the lively and skilful Cephas, who missed a sitter in the 72nd minute, returned three minutes later and found the clincher in clinical fashion, side-footing home from close range in the 75th minute.
It was a very good win for Arnett as they moved into eighth spot with three points from two games. The Alex Thomas-coached outfit has a game in hand and sits just three points adrift of the leaders Portmore United.
Clarendon-based outfit Humble Lion remained at the bottom of the 11-team league. without a point from three games and with a lot of work to do.
Losing coach Andrew Price of Humble Lion said his team is getting fitter but they didn’t close down the opponents and paid the price.
“We didn’t press the Arnett Gardens team enough. They are a young team, full of energy, and if you don’t pressure then you won’t be able to gain the ascendancy,” Price said.
“I think we played in patches and weren’t very consistent throughout the game and we will just have to continue to work,” he added.
“We didn’t play well enough today to win the game and we will have to accept that. We have to look in the mirror and see we weren’t good enough today.”
He remained optimistic that things will turn around for the better, but it will take time.
Head coach of Arnett Gardens, Alex Thomas, is looking forward to a productive season when the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) kicks off this weekend.
Arnett resorted to training in small groups when Covid-19 unexpectedly abrupted the sporting arena after Minister of Sports Olivia Grange had barred the Premier league teams from training as a unit.
Thomas revealed the club has since taken a different approach to their squad line-up, shedding some weight, and adding younger players to the team.
The club has released Ricardo Holder and Jamar Martin among a few veteran players that were with the team last season.
Thomas believes that the changes will bring positive results and is pleased with what he has seen so far. Despite having had a short period to prepare for the season, he is not concerned about it impacting the quality of the team’s performance.
"We have a nice squad put together and they have come a long way and we are shaping up well for it. We are ready for the 26th," Thomas said.
According to Thomas, the young players are keen to prove their abilities and will be guided by more experienced players in the team.
He and the rest of the management team are happy that there are no injuries within the squad for far and hope it will remain that way.
Thomas has lauded the club's involvement and interaction with the players during the pandemic and the uncertainty that came with it.
Social media engagement and zoom meetings were some of the club's avenues to communicate with the players.
"It worked quite well for us, we couldn't come together most of the time, but we kept the squad upbeat within the group, we have a WhatsApp group that we keep in touch with," said Thomas.
The five-time champions are confident in their chances of winning the league and will be pushing themselves to reign as titleholders once again.
"Our chance of winning this competition out of ten, I would say eight, but we are going to push them as far as possible. Our objective is to reach the top six and from the top six we take it from there. We will do very well for ourselves," Thomas ended.
The league format has been altered from the usual three rounds to just one. Instead, teams will play each other in a round-robin. Therefore, the top six teams will have a chance to book a spot in the finals, and the bottom six will battle each other in another round-robin format; this will determine their respective placings on the league table.
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