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.”