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Reid Jr making a JPL impact for Cavalier
May 05, 2023
Like father, like son, and Cavalier coach Rudolph Speid believes young central defender Adrian Reid Jr has exhibited similar qualities to his father and former national defender Adrian Reid.
The St George's College teenager not only stood tall in replacing Richard King in defence in their Jamaica Premier League (JPL) match against Molynes United on Monday but also dispatched two well-taken penalties to secure a 4-2 win for Cavalier.
Speid was left singing the youngster's praise afterwards, noting that he will look to the defender to play an even bigger role in the playoffs with the departure of King for Iceland.
"He stepped in and fit into really big shoes because that is Richard King's position, and he stepped in and delivered.
"At Cavalier, it is who is next up, so whenever someone leaves, we always have a youngster to come into his place. He has played for us before, last year. He has been playing in the Premier League since he was 15, and we know his obvious quality and his father's quality, so pedigree runs in the family," Speid said.
The 16-year-old Reid Jr has not played much this season, but Speid will rely on him more during the upcoming playoffs.
"It looks like it is the youngsters that I will have to rely on for the rest of the tournament. He (Reid) hasn't played much. This is about his fourth or fifth game. We expect him to grow from strength to strength, and, of course, he will be a feature almost right through the playoffs," he said.
Reid Jr demonstrated nerves of steel to convert twice from the spot in the second half, and his coach expressed total confidence in his ability from 12 yards.
"In training, he is the best penalty taker we have, so at 2-1 we wanted to be sure of the points."
Reid Jr admitted to being nervous on the second kick.
"I just stepped up, kept calm, picked my spot and went for it. I was definitely nervous for the second one, but I just applied the same principle," he stated.
He said it takes a lot of confidence and hard work to play in the JPL, but he is satisfied with how he has performed and hopes for more playing time.
"You have to continue working hard and persisting to get here. I want a career out of football, so I have to keep on working hard until I get there.
"I would like to start more and get some more minutes and to keep on helping the team, but I definitely expect more playing time in the playoffs," Reid Jr said.
