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Speid upset Harbour View stop dream Jamaican Caribbean Cup final
October 10, 2023
Cavalier coach Rudolph Speid is disappointed with local counterparts Harbour View after they lost 2-1 to Ciboa in their final Concacaf Caribbean Cup Group B game on Thursday and missed their chance to top the standing.
By finishing second, the 2021-22 Jamaica Premier League (JPL) winners will face Group A winners Cavalier in the last four. Speid believes it was an opportunity missed for the two Jamaican teams to be in the final.
"We are just disappointed that Harbour View didn't win the other zone, so we wouldn't have to face them (in semis). I think that is something most Jamaicans would have preferred. They lost 2-1 to Ciboa, and we are disappointed, even though this guarantees that at least one Jamaican team will be in the final," Speid said.
Harbour View, with seven points, went into the game with a one-point advantage over SV Robinhood, who they defeated in their previous game to take the lead in the points standing.
However, they fell behind Ciboa 2-0 in the first half, and despite a goal late in the half, they failed to mount a comeback, allowing Robinhood to top the group with nine points, two more than the Jamaicans.
With all four semi-finalists assured US$80,000 and group winners an additional US$40,000, Speid thought Harbour View missed a great chance to add to their coffers.
"They threw away their US$40,000 and will now play us in the semi-finals. The US$40,000, Harbour View should have taken it," he said.
"We are looking to do the business there (semi). We will have a repeat of the Jamaica Premier League semi-final, where we had to meet over two legs, and we will do the same thing here.
"We will meet Harbour View on October 22 and then on the 29th for the second leg. They will host the first leg, and we will host the second, but I am sure both games will be played at Sabina Park.
"We have never really assessed them in this competition, but now that we will play them, we will have to sit and look at what they are doing and see if we can get into the final, as that is our aim.
"We always do well at the business end because we always try to improve as we go along, but we are two professional clubs, and the rivalry is strong, so it is not going to be an easy game for either team," he stated.
Meanwhile, Cavalier topped Group A with 10 points from four games, one more than Moca of the Dominican Republic, who will play Robinhood of Suriname in the other semi-final.
