August Town look to hurdle Lowe threat

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Rockfort, led by former national striker Onandi Lowe, will be aiming to put a dent in August Town's title ambitions, when both teams square off in today's feature game in the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA)-Claro Super League competition, at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Bowl, starting at 2 p.m.

In the second match of the double-header, UWI will host bottom-place Duhaney Park at 4 p.m.

Rockfort, who have won two of their last three games, are currently fourth in the standings on 29 points. Their victories also included a 1-0 win over defending champions Cavalier.

However, Cavalier, who will oppose Real Mona (15) at Buttercup Park, still lead the standings with 38 points, one ahead of August Town, 37.

no room for error

Interestingly, third-place UWI have picked up momentum with four victories in their past five games to join the championship reckoning, as they now have 34 points, four off the leaders.

There is little room for error among the leading trio as after today's games only four rounds remain.

The Dwayne Dillion-managed Rockfort are very confident ahead of today's game, this after their 2-0 victory over August Town earlier in the season.

"Our plan is to accumulate as much points as possible from here on, but if we cannot get a win in this game, then we will settle for a draw," said Dwayne Dillion.

"We certainly would like to repeat our win over them, but they are playing well and they are also highly motivated because of where they are in the points standings, and so we are

preparing for a real exciting game," Dillion said.

Along with Lowe, who has netted three goals in his last four games, Rockfort will rest their hopes on Twain Winter, Audley Hanson and Royan Nelson.

On the other hand, Marlon Small, manager of August Town, who have won three of their last five matches, said his team is very upbeat ahead of today's encounter.

"The plan is come out and beat them because we will be playing at home and so we need to collect all three points," said Small.

"The players are confident because we are coming from an eight-point deficit and we are now just one point behind Cavalier, and so this is a big motivation for us for the rest of the season," he said.

Small pointed out that they were without a number of their senior players when they were beaten by Rockfort earlier in the season, but his team is now at full strength and they are raring to go.

"The race for the title is still wide open at this point and so the league can go any way," Small said. "Therefore, we cannot afford to make any slip-up because if we intend to go back to the Premier League we will have to win the Super League first, and so every game from here on is very important for us."

Striker Ricardo Monroe, Aphas Bernard, Nicholas Smith and Gee Daley will lead August Town's charge for victory.

In the day's other games, Santos (25) will host Bull Bay (16) at the Bell-Chung Oval, Barbican (18) will entertain Mountain View United (20) at Barbican, and Rae Town (23) tackle Constant Spring (16) at Breezy Castle.