Royal Lakes, Black Lion in semi-final clash
Published:Thursday | April 7, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Anthony Minott, Gleaner Writer
Royal Lakes, boasting the potent strike force of Kenroy Howell and Orville 'Villa Vil' Mullings, will come up against the defensive mettle of league leaders Black Lion in the LIME St Catherine Major League first leg semi-final match of a double-header at Spanish Town Prison Oval, starting at 5 p.m. today.
Black Lion advanced to the semi-finals on top of the preliminaries, amassing 44 points, while Lakes are the fourth seed and they tabulated 35 points.
Black Lion's coach, Bobby Laing, said preparations for their clash against Lakes is going well. "We had a good two weeks training under our belt and we have gotten back our leading scorer, Jason Duhaney, who has recovered from an injury," Laing said in an interview.
He noted that the strength of his team is really in defence, as they have given up a league-low 13 goals in 20 matches.
tight defence
"We are hoping to maintain a tight defence starting from our goalkeeper Rushon Dunn and central defender and captain Seymour Lewis," a confident Laing said.
He added: "We are really happy that Duhaney is back in the line-up, he has scored nine goals this season and he will partner Miguel Brown, who has scored seven goals so far."
Royal Lakes' technical director, Michael Panchan, admits that his side is improving at the right moment.
"We started out this season playing up and down, but I think the team is now coming into their own," an upbeat Panchan said.
He explained that any team that wants to beat his team must outscore them.
"We have three good strikers in Howell and Mullings, who have scored 12 goals this season, and St Jago school boy Romario Constant, who can crack any defence."
Furthermore, he insists that they possess the best midfielder in the league in Conroy Roberts.
He stressed: "We also have a good crowd support and we will have the upper hand at Prison Oval, it will be like a home game for us."
Meanwhile, in the opening Division One first-leg semi-final, Christian Pen will oppose Tread-ways at 3 p.m.