Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer

Ricardo Geddes

THE EMERGING stars of the east, St. Georges of Portland, will aim to improve their road show today against western Jamaica standard bearers, Seba United, at Jarrett Park, in one of five scheduled games in the Cash Plus Premier League.

One of two promoted teams, St. Georges has been dominant at home, winning five games in succession there while looking shaky on the road. In their latest away game, they were beaten 2-0 by bottom-of-the-table Village United for their first win of the season.

Mental toughness

That kind of form has coach Donovan Dookie concerned.

"Our preparations have always been good technically and tactically and we are always ready to play anyone, especially at home. What worries me about this team is how mentally tough we are," said Dookie. "The 12th-man factor, the crowd, is very important and so they perform at home in front of friends and family but away it is a different story and we have been working to improve that."

The team now sits in fourth position on 21 points, five behind leaders Portmore United.

Today, they go up against Seba United, a team regarded as tougher than Village United, a feeling which is supported by the standings which sees them being placed sixth on 17 points. Only an improved mental approach will give his team the desired result, Dookie said.

"If we turn up to play Seba and play as if we want to win, with hands and heart, then for sure we will get the three points because there is no doubt in my mind that we can compete with all these teams and we have shown that. Mentally, we need to overcome playing away from home," he explained.

Even with a number of players injured, Dookie is convinced that the quality of his group will not be compromised.

"We have been having our fair share of injuries and even in the game against August Town we had about four or five new players coming in. Denroy Dennis, our joint leading scorer with Damion Harwood, was injured and Gregory Consingh started his first game and scored, so quality is not a problem," he explained.

Consingh is most likely to start up front with Harwood and they should take the fight to Seba United with good support from Damion Reid, Ricardo Taylor and the outstanding goalkeeper Anthoniel Williams.

Have not regained form

Like St. Georges, Seba United have some amount of reinventing to do. They have not looked the same aggregation that seemed almost a certainty for a place in the end-of-first-round final before faltering.

Then, they had losses to Reno and Sporting Central. Since, they have not regained the form which saw them exciting western Jamaica with their attractive attacking brand of football. Their most recent result was a 2-0 loss away to Tivoli Gardens.

For club chairman Bruce Gaynor, that game has been the defining moment of the team's season.

"A number of players did not turn up for training the day after Christmas and as a result the coach took some serious decisions. In fact, just about three players were on the bench. Since then, the coach has addressed the players so things should look different from here on," a concerned Gaynor said. "My opinion is that we are the most unimproved team in the last couple of weeks. Other teams such as Reno, who were well below us, have pulled alongside while the other teams around us have improved while we have not. Our advantage right now is that we have a game in hand, but we were in a similar position towards the end of the first round with two games in hand, but we never made use of that."

Already, Gaynor said he has seen a turnaround with all the players turning up for training on Monday and yesterday.

"We will have a full-strength squad for this game as all the players turned up for training on Monday and Tuesday so all are available for selection," he said.

In Keniel Moodie, Ricardo Geddes, Mario Samuels, Oliver Trail and Delroy Ellis, Seba have quality young players who have blended well with the experienced Norman Foster and Daniel Ricketts. On their day, they could trouble any team.

In other games today, Sporting Central will hope to take advantage of Harbour View's indifferent form to surprise them when they meet at Brancourt, while Arnett Gardens will be hoping to resurrect their season with a second win over their more stable and consistent neighbours Boys' Town.

Portmore United have faltered since their 'derby' victory over Sporting Central with a loss to their nemesis, Waterhouse, and a 0-0 draw with Boys' Town. Today, they host their end-of-first-round conquests Tivoli Gardens with this match-up expected to be closer, while the contest between the bottom-placed August Town and Village United could go either way.

Today's games

3:00 p.m. - Sporting Central Academy vs Harbour View at Brancourt

5:00 p.m. - Arnett Gardens vs Boys' Town at Anthony Spaulding Complex

3:00 p.m. - Portmore United vs Tivoli Gardens at Ferdie Neita Park

6:00 p.m. - Seba United vs St. Georges at Jarrett Park

3:00 p.m. - August Town vs Village United at UWI