'WE COME TO PLAY’

The battle for places in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) Super final, begins this evening with the first-leg semi-finals at the National Stadium.

At 5 p.m., defending champions Cavalier take on Montego Bay United, while in the feature encounter at 7:35 p.m., Portmore go up against Mount Pleasant.

After giving Waterhouse a lesson in how to win play-off matches in the quarter-finals, Cavalier will try to repeat their heroics against the Montegonians, who are well rested and ready to see off the Cavalier threat, said coach Xavier Gilbert.

"It was a well-needed break. Did us service," Gilbert commented. 

"The mindset is positive. We are upbeat and ready to go.

"We know how disciplined and hard-working they are. They always find a way to get results. We are aware of that. We know what we have to do and we just want to come out and execute well.

"We have to stop them playing in transition, for sure. We will have to counter press whenever we lose the ball, and we have to make use of the moments that we have."

The Cavalier unit is still beaming after upstaging the more fancied Waterhouse in the quarter-finals. Assistant coach David Laylor believes they will also start as underdogs in this match, but thinks that will have little impact on the outcome.

"We were way off the pace [regular season]. A lot of losses, a lot of draws. So many goals scored against us. If you look at the statistics, you would say MoBay is the favoured team, but that cannot be a concern for us. The most important thing is that we come to play."

The team suffered a major blow as talisman Christopher Ainsworth was not passed fit for the game, but Laylor is convinced they can make up for his absence.

"Ainsworth, one our key player is out. Yes, we will miss him but the fight goes on. We have a tough challenge ahead of us but Cavalier is Cavalier. Whenever it comes around to the semi-finals and final we have a different mindset, the killer instinct gets sharper. 

"MoBay is one of the top teams in the league this season, but we will be playing 11 against 11. They have been ahead of us most of the season, but now they are ripe for the picking," he said.

In the second game, Mount Pleasant will also start favourites against a Portmore team that has only taken one point off them in three meetings this season.

In their last match, the St Ann team brushed aside the former champions 4-1, but, despite their struggles against the league toppers, Portmore coach Rodolph Austin believes it will come down to their mentality.

"They are fresh, so we have to look into how we are going to set up and go into the game. It's a semi-final and you have to go there with a good mindset.

"For me, it's just the mentality of the players. I know science say this and science say that, but sometimes it comes down to who wants it more.

"If you have a strong mentality, you don't think about fatigue and stuff like that. It's all about who wants it more, in my opinion."

He added that. "Every game is different. That's how football is. We haven't beaten Racing this year and we won against them (quarter-finals). So anything can happen but we have to come and play the game."

Mount Pleasant topped the table on the last day of the regular season with a strong display against MoBay, who led for much of the season.

The one-time winners, boost the league's leading scorer in Raheem Edwards and, after adding the Concacaf Caribbean Cup to their trophy cabinet earlier this season, are highly motivated for a second JPL title.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com

TODAY’S GAMES

Cavalier vs Montego Bay @ 5 p.m.

Portmore vs Mt Pleasant @ 7:35 p.m.

Venue: National Stadium