Simpson ... funeral today.

Second-place St Georges will look to push themselves back to the top of the Digicel Premier League when the competition's second round gets under way today, but could face a tough task against a steadily improving Arnett Gardens at Lynch Park.

Defending champions and current leaders Tivoli Gardens will be inactive for the day, as the team pays its final respects to former winger Oraine Simpson. Simpson, a key player in the team's title run last season, was killed in a knife attack three weeks ago. As a result of the player's funeral today, the match between Tivoli and Humble Lions has been postponed.

The match between Harbour View and Sporting Central has also been postponed, as the Stars of the East have four players that have been selected for the national team ahead of Tuesday's friendly against South Africa.

Junglists hard-pressed

Against Arnett, St Georges will look to make hay while the sun shines, and despite a sharp turnaround, the Junglists will be hard-pressed to come away with anything from Lynch Park, which has served as an almost impenetrable fortress, season after season for the Portland team. In addition to a tidy home record on their side, St Georges will also be looking to recover from losing to Tivoli in their first End-of-Round final.

However, the team must cope with the loss of captain and defensive stalwart Jermaine Taylor who has travelled with the national team to face South Africa.

Perhaps not having the start to the season they envisioned, an inconsistent Portmore United will look to get their confidence back when they host a struggling August Town at Ferdie Neita Park. Also eyeing a move up the table, Boys' Town will hope to continue their positive run at home when they tackle Village United at Collie Smith Drive.

winning ways

Waterhouse will be anxious to get back to winning ways after seeing their four game unbeaten streak snapped by Boys' Town last weekend. Drewsland, which had a poor start to the season, will look to flex their muscles when they tackle Rivoli United at the Waterhouse Stadium. Rivoli could find the going tough with the absence of leading scorer Devon Hodges, who will also be absent after travelling to South Africa with Jamaica's Reggae Boyz. Rivoli have drawn their last two games.