Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer

LOSING END-of-round finalists Tivoli Gardens will today have an excellent opportunity to take over the lead of the Cash Plus Premier League (CPPL) with a win over neighbours Arnett Gardens.

Tivoli Gardens host their neighbours in a fixture which, a few short years ago, would have been a really big match. Today, the teams are at opposite ends of the table. Tivoli Gardens sit in second position on 27 points, a point behind faltering leaders Portmore United, while Arnett Gardens have seen themselves slipping into the relegation zone on 15 points - six ahead of Village United, the last-place team.

The home team should go into today's fixture full of confidence especially after their mid-week win over Portmore United, while Arnett Gardens must be praying that the opening of the transfer window tomorrow brings them proper replacements for two of their better young players in Leon Strickland, who is said to be on his way to Waterhouse, and Marcelino Blackburn, who is said to be eying another stint at Harbour View.

Players not training

Those factors and reports of other senior players not training will give the Tivoli Gardens camp no reason to take anything for granted, according to manager Brian Rose.

"We are doing good so far - leading in the second round, and our intention is to collect maximum points in all the games we play and the Arnett Gardens game will be no different," Rose said.

Tivoli Gardens will still be without injured forward Roland Dean as well as Horace Howell, who is abroad trying to sort out a football scholarship, while veteran Steve Green will need a fitness test to determine his availability.

Besides captain Kasai Hinds, Christopher Jackson, Craig Stewart and Denroy Gordon, Tivoli Gardens will also look to Navion Boyd, Roberto Fletcher and Jermaine Allen to deliver the goods.

tough task

Arnett Gardens will look to the faithful Julian McLeish, Everton Bunsie, Craig White, Alex Thomas and youngsters such as Horace Shape, Kowri Pickersgill and Kenrick Rodriques to carry their flag. In other games, the true quality of the Portmore United squad will be tested when they travel to Lynch Park to face St. Georges. The promoted team has only dropped points to Seba United at home.

Village United will have another opportunity to measure their improvement under coach Paul 'Tegat' Davis when they host Theodore Whitmore and his charges from Seba in a clash of western Jamaica-based teams. Village especially cannot afford to come up empty-handed based on their position, while Seba do not want to fall too far behind the leaders.

Harbour View, with three goals on Wednesday and Kavin Bryan scoring his third goal in his third game, signalled that they are getting back into some sort of form. If they continue in this vein, then August Town could find themselves experiencing a tough evening, while Sporting Central should expect no better treatment when they travel to Drewsland.

Both Boys' Town and Reno should be of the view that the sixth and eighth places they occupy respectively do not truly reflect their abilities and as such a competitive game should be expected.

TODAY'S MATCHES