Arnett out to build on final success
published: Sunday | November 13, 2005

Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer

AFTER LAST weekend's end of first round final - won by Arnett Gardens - it is back to work for all 12 teams in the Wray and Nephew National Premier League.

Last week's final signalled the completion of a third of the competition.

Though Arnett Gardens won the end-of-round final, the team in the most advantageous position remains Harbour View who are seven points above Arnett Gardens, their closest rivals.

In today's fixtures, Harbour View have an excellent opportunity to continue their winning run when they host Wadadah at 4:00 p.m.

Tivoli Gardens must still be ruing their fall off in form which saw them throw away an excellent opportunity of making it to the end-of-round final.

While well placed, they lost crucial matches to Harbour View and Village United.

Today, they travel to Constant Spring to face the competitive Boys' Town who could be on the receiving end of Tivoli onslaught.

MAKE A STATEMENT

The 3:00 p.m. game between Rivoli and Constant Spring will provide an opportunity for Danny Lyn's players to make a statement if they intend to remain in the Premier League this season.

Already they are firmly rooted at the bottom of the table on four points, five behind Seba United.

Only a dramatic turnaround in form sooner than later will see them survive.

Rivoli are seven points ahead of Constant Spring and are not too far away from danger themselves.

At Elleston Wakeland Centre, fourth-placed Village United will be keen to show that their mid-round run is an indication of what is to come for the rest of the competition.

Against seventh-placed Reno they will again look to the man on fire, Fabian Dawkins, to get the better of Keneil Moodie and company in the Reno defence.

Like Constant Spring, Seba United, second from bottom with nine points, are flirting with danger. They too need to arrest their indifferent form if they are to remain in the league.

Against Portmore in their 3:30 Jarrett Park fixture, they will have to raise their game significantly to get the better of the defending champions.

MATCH OF THE DAY

In the match of the day, Arnett Gardens travel to Waterhouse to tackle one of their toughest rivals in the competition.

Coach Michael Tulloch is fully aware that last round's results or even the end-of-round final win mean little today.

"It is back to work. The real ballgame has just started in terms of trying to be champions," he said of today's game, adding that the aim of his team was to keep on winning and close the gap on leaders Harbour View.

"Waterhouse are a quality team so it will be a tough game. Against a team such as Waterhouse if you do not play well you will be beaten," he said.

Their task of beating Waterhouse will be made even more difficult by the absences of Kevin Wilson and Cornel Chin-Sue due to suspensions.

That though is not a worry for Tulloch.

"Our team has depth. The first game we played against Waterhouse they were not available. We have a bunch of players and whoever is absent, the others know that they have to step in," he said.

PLAYER PROBLEMS

Waterhouse, who lost the first round game 2-0 in Fitzgerald's first game in charge of the club in about two years, have their problems too.

"Two of our regular starters, Demar Phillips and Vincent Earle, will be out on suspension for accumulation of yellow cards. Damion Williams and Weston Forrest are two quality replacements," said Fitzgerald, whose team faltered in the final stretch towards the end-of-round final.

"What we have been doing is trying to sort things out. We did some soul-searching to see what went wrong in the latter part of the first round and geared our training to addressing those issues. Come tomorrow (today) we will see if we have done that successfully," he said of the fixture.

With the two key midfielders out for Waterhouse, they will have to look to the veterans Kevin Lamey, who could be paired up front with Shane Edwards, Irvino English and possibly Damion Powell for inspiration.

Arnett Gardens will be relying on Jonathan Williams, captain Everton Bunsie, Kwame Richardson and goalscorer Gregg Taylor.

STANDINGS

P W D L GF GA GD Pts

Harbour View	11	9	0	2	20	7	13	27
Arnett Gardens	11	6	2	3	15	11	4	20
Portmore	11	4	7	0	16	9	7	19
Village	11	4	5	2	16	12	4	17
Waterhouse	11	4	4	3	10	12	-2	16
Tivoli Gardens	11	5	1	5	18	14	4	16
Reno	11	3	4	4	9	8	1	13
Boys' Town	11	2	6	3	10	10	0	12
Wadadah	11	3	3	5	10	17	-7	12
Rivoli	11	2	5	4	11	18	-7	11
Seba	11	2	3	6	11	18	-7	9
Constant Spring	11	0	4	7	8	18	-10	4

TODAY'S GAMES

Boys' Town vs Tivoli Gardens at Constant Spring - 3:00 p.m.

Harbour View vs Wadadah at Harbour View Mini-Stadium - 4:00 p.m.

Rivoli United vs Constant Spring at Prison Oval - 3:00 p.m.

Village United vs Reno at Elleston Wakeland Centre - 3:00 p.m.

Seba United vs Portmore United at Jarrett Park - 3:30 p.m.

Waterhouse vs Arnett Gardens at Waterhouse Stadium - 3:00 p.m.

FIRST MEETINGS

Tivoli 2 Boys' Town 1

Wadadah 1 Harbour View 5

Constant Spring 1 Rivoli 1

Reno 0 Village 0

Portmore 4 Seba 2

Arnett 2 Waterhouse 0