Champs Tivoli hunt winning start

Nodley Wright, Sunday Gleaner Writer

The wait is over. Three months and two additional weeks of top-flight football inactivity will come to an end today, with a full slate of matches in the National Premier League.

Most attention will be focused on the Edward Seaga Sports Complex where the defending champions, Tivoli Gardens, will host one of the teams of the 1980s, Seba United, now rebranded as Montego Bay United.

Of interest to some will be how well Tivoli Gardens function following the departure of Keammar Daley, one of their key players.

Navion Boyd, who had forged an excellent partnership with Daley, expressed a willingness to shoulder a lot of the goal scoring and leadership burden.

"I know what it takes to lead the attack of this team. I will take it one step at a time," said Boyd, who recently returned from an unsuccessful trial in Finland.

"It is not as if we have a lot of inexperienced players at Tivoli. We do have some experienced players who have been seasoned in this league and we know what is required," he added.

"Keammar was a very important player for us. He was the main provider, so hopefully, the other guys who have come will step up and provide similar service. "Mitchley Waul has come in and he plays in a similar position or even higher up and could partner me up front. Marcelino Blackburn has also come in," he said.

Montego Bay United have been playing in the lower leagues for the last three seasons and could not have asked for a tougher re-entry than one against the defending champions. According to Keneil Moodie, reputation and name will mean nothing on the field.

"Honestly, knowing that they are the defending champions does not matter seriously to us. We will be mentally strong, play our own game, and remain positive," said Moodie, who turned out for Waterhouse the last two seasons and previously represented Reno and Seba.

Montego Bay United's main focus is a positive start and to get three points Moodie said, and he expressed the view that with the combination of experienced and youthful players, they should get them.

"Wilfred Smith, Iton Scott, Jacomena Barrett and others have played in the Premier League even before me. Omar Reid is also there. Young Troy Reid is a good little player, and Leon Irving is also an experienced player who can make a difference in any team. Graeme Green is also good," added the national defender.

"One of the things going for us is that we also have players who do not have (big) names but can do the work. People are probably not looking at us seriously now because we do not have a lot of brand-name players, but this is a plus for us. They want to make their name, so they will give more," said Moodie of his Pastor Hugh Solomon-coached team.

INTERESTING MATCHUP

At Waterhouse, Premier League debutants Highgate of St Mary will face former champions and top-tier team Waterhouse at Drewsland. This is an interesting matchup as it pits St Mary native and the last man to guide a team from St Mary to the Premier League, Donovan Duckie, against Braxton Hyre. Hyre was also involved with the relegated St Georges, another of Duckie's former clubs.

While Waterhouse had their challenges last season, it will take more than the five migrants from St Georges, including the promising Romeo Parkes, for them to cause problems for Waterhouse. With Richard McCallum, Jermaine Anderson, the much-improved Theo Brown, André Clennon, and the newly acquired Gary McIntosh, Waterhouse should have too much firepower for Highgate.

Village United will host Arnett Gardens at their new home, the Trelawny Stadium, but if Arnett Gardens display a form similar to what they showed in the Claro/KSAFA Champions League, then Village could feel like the visiting team.

Errol Stevens will provide good support for Kirk Ramsay and Rohan Reid to make Arnett Gardens a stronger unit, while the loss of Leon Irving and Graeme Green should hurt Village.

Boys' Town will be aiming to prove that last season's strong performance was no fluke when they entertain Reno at Collie Smith Drive. Captain Michael Campbell, Oneil Thompson, and Kirk Porter will lead the charge of the 'Red Brigade', while Reno will look to the likes of Nicoli Finlayson, Davion Thorpe, and Fabian Blake to carry their fight.

At the end of last season, Humble Lion's Lenworth Hyde Sr indicated that this season would not be one for struggles as in the off season he would have had the opportunity to build the team to his liking.

Having shopped heavily, he will get the opportunity to test their strength early as he leads them into battle against Harbour View away from home. Among the players he has brought in is Lenworth Hyde Jnr, who has intimate knowledge of his philosophy.

Harbour View themselves did some shopping, bringing in midfielder Joel Senior and forward Damion Harwood, among others. They have also added André Fagan and Kavin Bryan, who have returned from Vietnam.