Jamaica’s Cavalier FC and Haitian outfit Real Hope FC confirmed their spots in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup semi-finals after comfortable 4-1 and 2-0 wins over Jamaican clubs Arnett Gardens and Mount Pleasant FA in their final Group A fixtures on Thursday.

A brace from Jalmaro Calvin (35th and 71st) and one each from Shaquille Stein (29th) and Dwayne ‘Busy’ Atkinson (59th) brought Cavalier from behind to top Arnett Gardens, who took an early ninth-minute lead through captain Shai Smith.

With the win, Cavalier, the reigning Jamaica Premier League (JPL) champions, consolidated the top spot with nine points, one ahead of Real Hope, who had a brace from Angelo Exilus (12th and 77th) to deny Mount Pleasant in the battle for the runner-up position.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Police FC (five points), Mount Pleasant (four points), and Arnett Gardens (one point) completed the table.

Cavalier will square off against Dominican Republic’s Moca FC in one semi-final, while Real Hope will lock horns against the other Dominican Republic outfit, Cibao FC, in the other. The semifinal date is yet to be confirmed.

Despite already having a spot in the final four, Cavalier FC were in no mood to relent and duly took apart Arnett Gardens at the National Stadium.

It was Arnett Gardens though that showed more purpose at the start as they sought to salvage some pride to end their campaign on a high. The ‘Junglists’ seemed on their way to achieving that feat when Smith connected with a pass from Marlon Allen and fired past Vino Barclett inside 10 minutes.

However, Xavier Gilbert’s side lost focus after taking the lead and were completely outplayed by Cavalier, who pulled level through Stein, who met Atkinson’s corner kick and slotted home at Roje Williams’ near post.

Real Hope's Angelo Exilus celebrate one of his two goals against Mount Pleasant.

Calvin then put Cavalier in front six minutes later with a tidy header past Williams from Jaheem Frazer’s weighted cross as they went to the break 2-1 up.

Cavalier picked up where they left off after the interval as Atkinson won possession deep in Arnett Gardens quarters and rounded the hapless Williams to slot home his team’s third.

Calvin later completed his brace with a tidy right-footed finish to cap Cavalier’s victory.

Meanwhile, a short distance away at Sabina Park, Mount Pleasant were also slow to get into stride, but unlike Cavalier, they couldn’t get back to Real Hope.

After Daniel Saint Fleur’s fourth-minute effort came back off the left upright, Exilus eventually broke the deadlock for the visitors with an easy tap-in from Watz Leazard’s pass.

Mount Pleasant tried to mount a comeback and had two decent efforts through Devonte Campbell and Sue-Lae McCalla in the 33rd and 49th minutes, but Real Hope’s custodian Gooly Elien came up big on both occasions to deny their host.

Raheem Edwards also went close for Mount Pleasant in the 70th, but he too failed to beat Elien’s glove.

With the equaliser proving elusive for Mount Pleasant, Exilus eventually found another open and made no mistakes from close range to secure the crucial win for his team.

Reigning champions Mount Pleasant Football Academy reclaimed their regular position in the top two on the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League standing, following a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Harbour View at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Monday.

Devonte Campbell (25^th) and Shaqueil Bradford (35^th) got the goals for Mount Pleasant, after Demar Rose gave Harbour View an early second-minute lead in the encounter that started at a decent pace, but lost tempo in the second half.

The win, which extended Mount Pleasant’s unbeaten run across seven games, pushed the St Ann-based team up to 39 points, one behind leaders Cavalier, on 40 points.

Tivoli Gardens (37 points), Portmore United (36 points), Arnett Gardens (34 points) and Waterhouse FC (26 points), occupy the other playoff positions. Harbour View are ninth on 19 points.

Winning coach Theodore Whitmore was pleased with his team’s recovery after conceding early.

“It was a high intensity game which is what we expected, but the problem is how we started the first half, and secondly, we played in the middle, instead of going out wide where we needed to play because that is where we are dangerous. After we sorted that, we got back into the game and got the job done,” Whitmore said in a post-game interview.

“After conceding, we didn’t panic, we maintained our focus and used the width of the pitch and that is where we were successful. So, it was a good win, but we want to take it game-by-game and just do what we have to do,” he added.

It was a frantic start to the contest, as Harbour View grabbed the early ascendancy, when Demar Rose lashed a right-footer past Mount Pleasant’s goalkeeper Shaquan Davis from deep inside the 18-yard box, after Jashaun Anglin neatly chested the ball down into his path.

The ‘Stars of the East’ continued to enjoy the better of possession and should have doubled the lead in the 11^th Okeemo Jones broke down the right channel with Rose for company in a two-on-one situation. However, he was hesitant in getting the pass off and was later dispossessed by a recovering defender.

That missed opportunity proved costly 14 minutes later, as Mount Pleasant pulled level courtesy of a tidy team build up, which ended with Campbell firing home his second of the season from an angle, after Daniel Green’s initial effort was parried by Davis.

From there, Whitmore’s side took advantage of the game, as they spread the ball to the left channel, in particular, where Campbell utilized his speed and nippy footwork to rattle Harbour View’s defence.

Three minutes past the half-hour mark, the 20-year-old Campbell produced a burst of speed down the left channel and was felled inside the danger area by Jones.

Referee Christopher Mason quickly pointed to the spot, and Bradford, who was assigned responsibility, made no mistakes from the 12-yard spot to put Mount Pleasant 2-1 up.

Mount Pleasant thought they had a third when Sue-Lae McCalla got the ball in the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed by referee Mason, who spotted a handball.

They again got the ball in the net on the stroke of half-time, but again it didn’t count as Bradford’s finish was from an offside position, and the score remained 2-1 at the break.

The second half, which was marred by stoppages, offered very little to write home about where goalmouth action is concerned, as both teams nullified each other’s attacking prowess and, as such, were unable to really produce anything meaningful in the final third.

Though slightly disappointed with the outcome, Harbour View’s Head coach Ludlow Bernard took heart from his team’s performance.

“I thought we gave it our all it is just unfortunate that after two breaks, we conceded and this about the third time this has happened, so we have to concentrate better,” said Bernard, who also took a jab at the officiating.

“I wouldn’t entirely say it was down to indiscipline, but more incompetence on the part of the officials. I think they were extremely poor, but that is that my guys battled hard, I think we needed to continue being patient with our build ups and that is a positive that we will build on going forward,” he noted.

Matchweek 18 Results

Cavalier 4, Lime Hall Academy 0

Molynes United 2, Portmore United 2

Dunbeholden FC 1, Treasure Beach FC 1

Humble Lion 0, Tivoli Gardens 2

Montego Bay United 0, Arnett Gardens 0

Vere United 0, Waterhouse FC 1

Harbour View 1, Mount Pleasant FA 2

Chelsea midfielder Omari Hutchinson is one of five English-based players that were, on Tuesday, named in the Reggae Boyz squad for two friendlies against Trinidad & Tobago to be held on the 11^th and 14^th of March in Montego Bay.

The 19-year-old, who spent seven years at Arsenal before moving to Chelsea last year, played his first game for the Reggae Boyz in an unofficial 0-6 friendly loss to Catalonia in May 2022.

The other four England-based players in the squad are Tyler Roberts (Wolves), Dexter Lembikisa (Wolves), Delano McCoy-Splatt (Fulham) and Dante Cassanova (Tottenham Hotspur).

Also selected in the squad for the first time is 17-year-old Kingston College standout Dujuan “Whisper” Richards who was recently on trial at Premier League outfit Newcastle United.

The full squad is as follows: Tyler Roberts (Wolves), Collin Anderson (Cavalier), Trivante Stewart (Mt. Pleasant), Dujuan Richards (Phoenix Academy), Jourdain Fletcher (NEROCA), Lamar Walker (Portmore United), Demario Phillips (Mt. Pleasant), Delano McCoy-Splatt (Fulham), Ravel Morrison (DC United), Dante Cassanova (Tottenham Hotspur), Alwayne Harvey (Mt. Pleasant), Jahshaun Anglin (Harbour View), Omari Hutchinson (Chelsea FC), Dwayne Atkinson (Cavalier), Dexter Lembikisa (Wolves), Ricardo Thomas (Dunbeholden), Jamoi Topey (Mt. Pleasant), Richard King (Cavalier), Fitzroy Cummings (Vere United), Adrian Mariappa (Unattached), Sue-Lae McCalla (Mt. Pleasant), Oshane Staple (Harbour View), Jamali Waite (Pittsburgh Riverhounds), Kemar Foster (Waterhouse), Asher Hutchinson (Arnett Gardens)

The long-awaited much-anticipated Jamaica Premier League kicked off Saturday with Mount Pleasant Football Academy and Tivoli Gardens battling to a 0-0 draw in the opening match at the Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.

Just over 14 months since the JPL was cancelled because of the outbreak of the Covi-19 across the globe, football action returned to Jamaica but there were no goals to celebrate the occasion.

Each team had to be satisfied with a point but the Paul “Tegat” Davis-coached Mount Pleasant got the better chances and would have been the more disappointing of the two, having 10 shots on target compared to just two by their opponent.

Playing on the artificial turf on grounds of the University of the West Indies (UWI), the St Ann-based Mount Pleasant, sporting blue tops and white shorts, were quick out of the blocks and applied early pressure on the orange and black-clad Tivoli Gardens outfit from West Kingston.

Playing at left-back, Sue-Lae McCalla created the first chance for Mount Pleasant but his powerful header was tipped over by goalkeeper Kewong Watkins in the sixth minute. Two minutes later, McCalla stung the hands of Watkins with a dipping swerving shot from 25m but Cardel Benbow failed to tuck away the rebound.

Tivoli Gardens got their first shot on target courtesy of the 41-year-old veteran Jermaine “Teddy” Johnson, who saw his free-kick blocked by goalkeeper David Swaby.

Minutes later, Mount Pleasant’s Kemar Beckford cut inside his marker but fired high from just outside the box.

There wasn’t much goal-mouth action in the second half but substitute Francois Swaby latched onto a through ball in the 76th minute only to be blocked by goalkeeper Watkins who stood tall and blocked well with his feet.

Daniel Green also fired straight at Watkins from an angle but Tivoli Gardens held on for a point.

The Man-of-the-match was Trevaune McKain of Tivoli Gardens, who was lively throughout and showed good skill on the ball.

Phillip Williams, head coach of Tivoli Gardens in his second season, was satisfied with a share of the points.

“The youngsters really stepped up and played a decent game for us today (Saturday). Mount Pleasant is a good running team and the boys passed with flying colours,” said Williams.

Mount Pleasant’s head coach Davis was visibly disappointed with the result.

“This is football and when you get some simple chances like that, maybe six, seven chances against this Tivoli Gardens team…the guys were flat, flat, flat,” Davis pointed out. “This is football and we would have loved the three points but it’s the start of the tournament so one point is good.”