Tivoli, Portmore aim at final

Nodley Wright, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Defending champions and current leaders Tivoli Gardens, along with second-place Portmore United, are best placed on the final day of competition in the first round of the Red Stripe Premier League.

Besides the above-mentioned duo, three other teams are in with the chance of making it to the end-of-round final and competing for the $250,000 awarded to the winners and the $150,000 for the runners-up. The three include early round pacesetters Waterhouse, which last week recorded their first win in seven matches, Boys' Town which benefited from Sporting Central Academy's managerial folly, and Sporting Central themselves.

Tivoli Gardens and Portmore United are in favourable positions because with 18 points they are both three points ahead of the contenders and need only a point from their respective games to confirm a position in next Sunday's final. Of major concern to both teams is the fact that they face tricky away encounters. Tivoli Gardens will play away to seventh-place Reno at Frome. The Western Kingston-based team, despite leading, could be considered vulnerable as they have won just once in their last eight games, drawing all the others, including five in a row.

"We just have to go down there, dig deep and see if we can come away with the three points and make it to the end of round final," Alvin Shaw, assistant coach of Tivoli Gardens, said of their situation.

"It is going to be a really tough task, but we are going down there to put in some hard work," he added.

Tivoli Gardens will be without three of their key players in Shawn McKoy, Kemar Flemmings and Raymond Williamson, but have good replacements in Mitchily Waul and Keithy Simpson. Also, regular captain Christopher Jackson is still on the injury list, while Marcelino Blackburn remains uncertain after picking up a serious injury last Sunday.

While Reno have no hope of advancing to the final, the Westmoreland team will be eager to create some distance between themselves and the others in the tightly bunched middle of the table. Just last week, they came from two goals down to defeat Montego Bay United at Catherine Hall and would be keen to continue their bounce up the table.

Faltered

Portmore United have faltered in their last two games, drawing a tough encounter with Harbour View and losing to Arnett Gardens away from home. The fact that they have not scored in their last two games should be worrying for the Portmore United team as even though Village United have not won a game all season, they have looked good enough to compete.

Both of Village's two points have come in draws at home to Waterhouse and Tivoli Gardens - teams in contention for a place in the end-of-round final. Today they will be aiming to go one better by getting their first win of the season, despite the fact that they have scored just four goals while conceding 13. It is that apparent defensive weakness that Portmore's Calvin Lewis will be hoping his charges capitalise on as they seek to come away with at least a point.

"We have to go there and work very hard for a good result; anything other than a loss is good enough.

"Once you are in the final you always try to win it, so the first thing is to put ourselves into the final; we have to just go out there and work hard for it," Lewis said.

At Effortville, Waterhouse will be aiming to get the better of the home team in an effort to advance to the end-of-round final, should Tivoli Gardens or Portmore slip up, while Boys' Town will seek to do the same against Highgate at Lynch Park.

Sporting Central will find the improving Harbour View in their way, while Arnett Gardens will be gunning for a back-to-back victory when they host Montego Bay United.

Today's games

• 
  
  3 p.m. Village United vs Portmore United at Trelawny Stadium
  
  
• 
  
  3:30 p.m. Sporting Central Academy vs Harbour View at Brancourt
  
  
• 
  
  3 p.m. Humble Lion vs Waterhouse at Effortville Community Centre
  
  
• 
  
  3 p.m. Highgate United vs Boys' Town at Lynch Park
  
  
• 
  
  3 p.m. Reno vs Tivoli Gardens at Frome Sports Complex
  
  
• 
  
  6 p.m. Arnett Gardens vs Montego Bay United at Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex

Standings

(Tabulate under Teams, P-Play, W-Win, D-Draw, L-Lose, GF-Goals For, GA-Goals Against, GD-Goal Difference, Pts-Points)