Arnett Gardens look to tame Portmore United in the 'Jungle'

Nodley Wright, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Former champions Port-more United will hope to continue their march towards the end-of-second-round final of the Digicel Premier League (DPL) when they play away to Arnett Gardens, who are also in contention, at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.

Sitting in pole position on 19 points, five above Tivoli Gardens, Sporting Central and Arnett Gardens, with three games to go, a win for the St Catherine-based team would virtually secure them a place in the final if both Tivoli Gardens and Sporting Central do not win. On current form, four wins in a row, Portmore United should be fancied to get the better of Arnett Gardens, and coach Linval Dixon is confident of achieving that.

"Arnett Gardens are very tough and they have a good coach in Paul Davis, a good friend of mine and a former national player like myself but we (Portmore) have been playing well as a team also, and have what it takes to win. We will be going there to do that, and hopefully we will get the job done," Dixon said.

"Reaching the end-of-round final is one of the goals that we have set ourselves. Our eyes are set on this the second end-of-round final, and hopefully a win (today), with just a couple games to go, will improve our chances," added Dixon.

Davis not impressed

Unlike Dixon who expressed pleasure with his team's perform-ance following their 1-0 win over Sporting Central in midweek, Davis was not impressed with his charges. While Arnett Gardens defeated Benfica, they were guilty of missing a host of chances.

"You can't be playing football like that, playing against a team like Benfica who weren't up to scratch and let them back in the game. So honestly, it was poor.

"The defence was good, as usual, but my midfielders and strikers need to be consistent in terms of scoring. I'm still very happy with the three points, though," Davis said on Wednesday after his team's victory.

Against Portmore United they could be made to pay for missed chances, especially with the form of Steven Morrissey, Mario Swaby, and Ricardo Cousins. For Arnett Gardens, Leon Strickland and company will have to make their chances count.

Another important match-up is the Harbour View/ Tivoli Gardens clash. Harbour View have shown improvement at the start of the second round, but have hit a bump and managed to pick up just one win in their last four games, and have also lost back-to-back to Village United and Boys' Town. A wounded Tivoli Gardens are probably the last team they want to see at this time.

Tivoli Gardens have managed just four points from a possible nine in their last three games, which they will not see as acceptable. One of their major shortcomings has been the lack of goals, and should they get it right today with the likes of Keammar Daley, Devon Hodges, Navion Boyd, and Kevin Deerr to call on, Harbour View could be up against it.

The Drax Hall encounter will feature two teams in crisis. Humble Lion, despite the presence of a proven coach of quality, have not managed to claw themselves out of the relegation zone, while Benfica seem bent on destroying themselves. Anything but a united effort from the St Ann-based team will see Humble Lion get the better of them.

Renewed focus

Sporting Central let themselves down against Portmore United in midweek and will be looking to rebound against Village United at home. Village United have looked good under the guidance of new coach Nedeir dos Santos and will also be aiming to shrug off Wednesday's loss to Reno.

Waterhouse have not looked like the team they were in the first round, but despite their inconsistency are just two points behind overall leaders Tivoli Gardens with whom they drew 1-1 on Wednesday last. Having missed out on the oppor-tunity to exact revenge for their end-of-first-round final humbling, their focus today should be to get back on track against Boys' Town. Like Waterhouse, Boys' Town have been inconsistent, beating the likes of Tivoli Gardens and Harbour View, while losing to Village United (at home) and Arnett Gardens. A win over Waterhouse away is not beyond them.

St Georges will continue their struggle against relegation when they host Reno, and while most teams have been beating them, they will be boosted by the memory of beating Arnett Gardens in their last home game. The presence of captain Jermaine Taylor and a return to action by forward Dever Orgill should aid their cause, even with Reno winning their last two matches.

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