Arnett Gardens hunt three in a row

Nodley Wright, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Western Kingston will be the focus of this weekend's Red Stripe Premier League, where the three teams from that area will be involved in key clashes on a day of interesting matchups.

In one encounter, the resurgent Arnett Gardens will host Sporting Central at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex at 6 p.m., while the slumping Tivoli Gardens will host a Boys' Town team, still in search of some consistency, an hour earlier.

Arnett Gardens, for the first time this season, have enjoyed back-to-back wins which have seen them for the first time in many moons enjoy a place in the top four of the country's top competition. Already, they have knocked off the relegation zone-rooted Village United and defending champions Tivoli Gardens - a team that defeated them in the first round - and will be going for their third successive scalp.

The much-improved and newly consistent Rohan Reid and the veteran Jonathan Williams have played major roles in Arnett's back-to-back wins, and they, along with Leon Strickland and Girvan Brown, should be important to the home team's chances of winning. Against Tivoli Gardens, Reid and Brown scored for Arnett Gardens, who ended with nine men.

Despite playing at home today, coach Paul 'Tegat' Davis was reserved in his predictions of a positive result.

"Some of the players have a few concerns (injuries) so we don't know if these will affect us," Davis said, refusing to name the players.

"Other than that, the players are upbeat and Sporting Central are a team that defeated us 3-0 away in the first round, so our plan is to return the favour," he added.

Refocusing

Sporting Central are coming off a win over the league's favourite opponents Village United, after falling 1-2 to Portmore United in the previous fixture. While they have lost the services of the influential little Bahamian, Leslie St Fleur, they have seen the likes of Jamoly Powell, Kadian Wynter and François Swaby stepping up, and now boast the competition's leading scorer, Levaughn Williams.

"The week prior to this one was one of refocusing, getting everything back together in terms of where we were in the first round. We have managed that somewhat with the win over Village United, and we intend to continue that against Arnett Gardens," Sporting Central's Vassel Reynolds said of today's encounter.

"We recognise that it will not be easy as they seem to be on a roll now, and we know they are a tough team but we have always played well against them and we are confident that we will continue that," Reynolds added.

Former national youth standout Keith Kelly, who is working his way back to fitness, could come off the bench to offer some creativity for the Clarendon-based team now in contention for a place in the end-of-first-round final.

Tivoli Gardens saw their six-match winless run stretch to seven and include their first loss of the season, going down 0-2 to Arnett Gardens. Another loss or even two more dropped points could see the defending champions slip further down the table, while a win for Boys' Town would see them hurdle their neighbours.

Today's Games

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  3 p.m: Reno vs Harbour View - Frome Sports Complex
  
  
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  3 p.m: Highgate United vs Portmore United - Lynch Park
  
  
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  3 p.m: Humble Lion vs Village United - Effortville Community Centre
  
  
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  3:30 p.m: Montego Bay United vs Waterhouse - Catherine Hall Complex
  
  
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  5 p.m: Tivoli Gardens vs Boys' Town - Edward Seaga Complex
  
  
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  6 p.m: Arnett Gardens vs Sporting Central - Anthony Spaulding Complex