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Champions Cavalier cautious about tough Portmore - MoBay United intent on winning against Tivoli as JPL quarter-finals kick off
May 08, 2025
Defending champions Cavalier and former winners Portmore United will square off in the feature Jamaica Premier League (JPL) first-leg quarter-finals at Sabina Park at 8:30 p.m.
The game will be preceded by the Tivoli Gardens-Montego Bay United quarter-final, which is set to kick off at 6 p.m.
Cavalier's sporting director Rudolph Speid does not think the tie will be decided tonight, as they fight for a place in the semi-finals.
"It is going to be a cat-and-mouse game, nobody is going to go all out in the first game. Nobody wants to be in a position where they cannot recover for a second game, so it is going to be a close match," Speid said.
"What we need is not to lose."
Portmore have conceded 25 goals in their 39 matches, the second lowest in the league to Mount Pleasant, who conceded 21.
'STINGY'
"They are stingy, so we have to be wary of who scores first. They haven't defeated us in any game this season; we won two and drew one. This is one of the teams that nobody wanted to face," Speid assessed. "They have a lot of good players, they are the toughest team to play in the league."
Cavalier will be missing striker Shaquille Stein through injury. But Speid said with their winning mentality and motivation to qualify for the Concacaf Champions Cup again, he expects a solid performance.
"My team has a winning mentality and everybody knows that once we go on a pitch there is just one thing on our players' minds and that is to win. That is the culture of the club. "
Apart from their defensive capabilities, Portmore have quality attacking players like Romeo Guthrie, Tarik Ximines, Tadj Bryan, Cardel Benbow and Ronaldo Robinson and cannot be taken lightly. According to their assistant coach, Ricardo Smith, they are aiming to go all the way.
"We tried to put a string of wins together but we lost against Waterhouse," Smith said of their form.
"But we wouldn't be here if we were not confident. We played well throughout the season... so we are going in with confidence and we can win just like anyone else," he stated.
OPENING ENCOUNTER
For the opening encounter, Montego Bay United's head coach Paul 'Tegat' Davis said, "We are definitely going out to win. If you do not win the game you do not know where you are going to stand for the second leg, and our approach all season is to win games and that hasn't changed.
"We want to be in pole position at the end of that first leg. We are on a mission to win this league ... so we have to be hungry tomorrow (today)," Davis added.
MoBay United defeated Tivoli 3-1 and 4-2 earlier this season, but lost their third meeting 2-1, on Sunday.
Tivoli's head coach Jerome Waite said: "Despite what transpired in the last game, MoBay is a good team and they will come firing on all cylinders... They are a quality team, they have so many talented players and I expect a very tough game.
"But the idea going into the first leg is not to concede, and once you don't concede anything else can happen," Waite said.
