Boys' Town, Tivoli in leadership battle

Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

Nipping at the heels of leaders and arch-rivals Tivoli Gardens, Boys' Town will take dead aim at overhauling the west Kingston men when the two meet in today's Digicel Premier League (DPL) top-of-the-table clash at Collie Smith Drive at 3 p.m.

A win for the Red Brigade, who are possibly enjoying their best season since returning to top flight football, would move them to 45 points, one clear of Tivoli.

Boys' Town have struggled for consistency all season, but are off to a solid start in the third round after wins over St Georges Sports Club and Humble Lion. However, to get to the apex of the DPL chart today the team will have to do something they haven't done all season - register a third consecutive win.

With the golden opportunity up for grabs though, Boys' Town coach Andrew Price is confident his team will rise to the occasion.

Home advantage

"We're definitely going in the game for a positive result. I think that we have an advantage playing at home and we intend to use that," Price said.

"It gives us more confidence and in fact, I believe we are an even stronger and more balanced team than when we faced them the last time. We have added Oniel Thompson and Jamiel Hardware and have improved so I think we are even better."

Boys' Town, led by six goals from midfielder Renae Lloyd, will also be buoyed by the fact that they have taken all three points against Tivoli in two prior league meetings this season.

That aside, Tivoli, the league's top scorers with 35 goals, will be a tough nut to crack, even though the Red Brigade could be aided by the absence of several key Tivoli players, led by leading scorer Devon Hodges (8 goals), Navion Boyd, who is out on accumulation of cards and Keammar Daley, who is still out with a hamstring injury.

With so many absentees the goalscoring responsibilities are expected to fall on Roland Dean and Owen Powell.

While admitting that the key players will be missed Tivoli's assistant coach, Alvin Shaw, believes his team is deep enough to still get the job done.

"They beat us twice before and we are definitely going with a different approach. I don't want to say too much about that now, but we don't intend to give up our lead at this time," said Shaw.

"Our biggest concern is our defence; we did some work because we conceded too many goals in the second round. We put in some work and we have seen improvements in our last few games," Shaw added.

Meanwhile, third-place Portmore United will look to recover quickly from their weekend stumble - after being stunned 2-0 by Village United - when they travel to Drax Hall to face Benfica. The St Ann team, which continues to struggle, could be in for a long 90 minutes after going down 4-0 to Waterhouse in their last home game.

Strong third round

The Drewsland team, which face Village at the Elliston Wakeland Centre, will be hoping that the result sparks a strong third-round run as they look to move from fourth place up the table.

Defending champions Harbour View, in fifth, will also be looking to keep pace with the leaders, following a disappointing draw with St Georges on the weekend. The Stars of the East will host familiar rivals Arnett Gardens at Compound.

Sporting Central Academy will also be in the hunt for three points - and break a four-game winless streak - when they tackle bottom-place St Georges at Brancourt.

In the day's other game, Humble Lion will look to stay clear of the relegation zone when they travel to Frome to face eighth-place Reno.

3 p.m. Benfica vs Portmore United at Drax Hall

3 p.m. Boys' Town vs Tivoli Gardens at Collie Smith Drive

3 p.m. Reno vs Humble Lion at Frome Sports Complex

7 p.m. Harbour View vs Arnett Gardens at Harbour View Mini Stadium

3 p.m. Sporting Central Academy vs St Georges at Brancourt

3 p.m. Village United vs Waterhouse at Elliston Wakeland Centre