Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer OF THE three teams in contention for the 2006-2007 Wray and Nephew National Premier League title, leaders Harbour View have the toughest encounter in this the second set of games in round three of the competition today.
The ?Stars of the East?, as the former champions are dubbed, go up against Tivoli Gardens, a team which has had the better of them and which knocked them out of the Red Stripe Cup Knockout competition in midweek.
Despite the presence of more national players in their squad than any other, Harbour View have struggled to cope with the pace at which the Tivoli Gardens team plays. With Fabian Taylor and Kavin Bryan in the line-up, Harbour View have firepower any team would want as well as a quality midfield with Lovel Palmer, Jermaine Hue and the veteran Donald Stewart. Defensively they also have quality but appear suspect to speed.
Tivoli Gardens will rely on the likes of Christopher Jackson, Steve Green, Kasai Hinds, Roland Dean and Lenworth Hyde Jr., who spent just about a season with Harbour View, to give them victory.
a disjointed unit
Second-placed Reno will play away today against a faltering Arnett Gardens. In their last two games, Arnett Gardens have looked like a disjointed unit with the likes of Cornel Chin-Sue and Marcelino Blackburn being left out of the game against Village United for failing to show for training. In the following game, the first of the round, they found themselves swamped 4-0 by leaders Harbour View.
Leon Strickland, the competition?s leading scorer, will need to rediscover his shooting boots and get some help from his teammates if they are to stop the rot.
Reno, on the other hand, have had mixed results in their past two games. In the end-of-second-round final they got the better of Harbour View then had, from their point of view, a poor result with a draw with relegation-bound Wadadah at Frome. That result left them five points adrift of Harbour View and a similar result could see them slipping further providing Harbour View get the better of Tivoli Gardens. They could also find themselves in further trouble if Waterhouse beat Naggo Head, as they are favoured to do.
Defending champions and former leaders Waterhouse could not have asked for a better game than this one against Naggo Head, a team considered relegation certainties, to regain their momentum and rebuild their confidence. Their slump towards the end of the second round has continued into the third round. Already they have dropped points to Seba United and found themselves knocked out of the Red Stripe Knockout by Boys? Town.
Despite the presence of Jomo Gordon and Bryan Wollaston, Waterhouse have found goals hard to come by. With the return from injury of a number of their key players, particularly central midfielder Vincent Earle, it was thought that their form would have improved.
At Catherine Hall, Wadadah will want to show that their 1-1 draw last week with contenders Reno was no fluke when they face Boys? Town. Boys? Town are better placed in the league and would have been buoyed by their knockout performance but Wadadah will have pride at stake. It could go either way.
August Town have looked increasingly like a team worthy of its place in the NPL and should be given the slight edge over visitors Seba United. For their part, Seba are a team of pedigree and Theodore Whitmore on his day could turn any match. If he is in the mood to play then Seba could go all the way.
The match-up between Village United and Portmore on paper should just be a matter of formality for the St Catherine-based team. Village United appear short of the quality needed to upstage Portmore United, even though they have upset them in the past.
TODAY?S GAMES
■ Wadadah vs. Boys Town at Catherine Hall - 3:30 p.m.
■ August Town vs. Seba United at UWI - 3:30 p.m.
■ Waterhouse vs. Naggo Head at Waterhouse - 6:00 p.m.
Portmore vs. Village United at Ferdie Neita Park - 3:30 p.m.
■ Tivoli vs. Harbour View at Edward Seaga Stadium - 3:30 p.m.
■ Arnett vs. Reno at Anthony Spaulding Sports Center - 5:00 p.m.
