Kimoni Bailey (left) of Mount Pleasant controls the ball ahead of Cavalier SC’s Christopher Ainsworth during their JPL final match at Sabina Park on Sunday, June 11, 2023. Mount Pleasant won 2-1. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)
There will be some familiarity between the protagonists in today’s Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League final featuring Mount Pleasant and Cavalier at the National Stadium at 7:00 pm.
It will be the third-straight season the two giants of the local club game will be meeting in the decider after each has won one of the last two. Cavalier will be trying to win back-to-back titles while Mount Pleasant will be going after two wins in the last three years.
Former champions Montego Bay United and Arnett Gardens, beaten semi-finalists, will meet in the first game of the double-header, in the third-place play-off and for the right to play in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup competition that starts in August.
The teams have met three times this season each winning 1-0 with another game ending 2-2 and were in a head-to-head race for second place for most of the third round of games.
Sue-Lae McCalla, the Mount Pleasant captain, was the hero in the 2022-23 final, scoring two goals including a last minute winner in the 2-1 win while Cavalier prevailed on penalties last year at Sabina Park after the teams played out a 1-1 regulation and extra time score.
The teams have met four times this season, three in the Premier League, where each team won one each with the other ending in a 2-2 draw while Cavalier won a meeting between the teams in the early rounds of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup.
Back-to-back wins for Cavalier would end a phenomenal season where they also won the Concacaf Caribbean Cup but the victories have come at a cost, says Technical Director Rudolph Speid, saying they had played nearly 100 games in the last 22 months.
Cavalier made heavy weather against Arnett Gardens in the semi-finals, prevailing 2-1 on aggregate over two legs and are hoping their players can produce some more magic one last time this season.
Unlike in the 2022-23 season when they qualified directly to the semi-finals, Cavalier had to play two extra games, taking on Portmore United in the quarter-finals and this would have taken more out of the players.
Speid however has moulded his group of players into a never say die unit and it is expected they will give as much as they will get once the first whistle goes.
Despite not being at his usual energetic self in the second leg of the semi-final, Jalmaro Calvin scored the winner, his first of the play-offs and 21st for the season.
Dwayne Atkinson has been the live wire for the Cavalier team while Jerome McLeary has scored two very important goals and is expected to carry the hopes of Cavalier.
Mount Pleasant are enjoying a historic season in terms of wins, goals and points and will go into the final as favourites for most of the fans.
Coach Theodore Whitmore will have a deep squad to choose from and after ‘shaking off the rust’ with two competitive games against Montego Bay United, winning 2-1 over both legs, could be back to their brilliant best.
This has been the longest Premier League season ever in Jamaica with the 14 teams that started the season playing 39 games in the regular season. Mount Pleasant had their way with the rest of the field, beating every other team at least once.
The St Ann juggernauts tallied 94 goals, with five players scoring in double figures, lost just four games and conceded 21 goals, all leading their respective areas.
Mount Pleasant is expected to be fresher than Cavalier, playing two games less, and could afford to bring Reggae Boy invitee and top scorer Daniel Green off the bench in both games against Montego Bay in the previous round.
Whitmore will have the likes of Raheem Edwards, Devonte Campbell and Franco Celestin, who scored in the second leg of the semi-finals, to call on as they seek to win a second title.
Cavalier FC’s Kaile Auvray (centre) turns away from Mount Pleasant’s Jean Ferreira (left) and Alex Marshall during the Concacaf Caribbean Cup match at Sabina Park on August 20, 2024. Cavalier won 2-0. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)
