With six sets of matches to go, including today’s, in the regular season of the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL), regular contenders Harbour View will face their most direct rivals for a semi-final place.
The ‘Stars of the East’, as Harbour View are dubbed, will host fourth-place Humble Lion in one of, if not the most keenly anticipated game of the five scheduled games to get under way. Sitting in fifth position on 40 points, two behind Humble Lion, a win would firmly place Harbour View’s destiny in their hands.
Aiming for Top four
Since taking over from Andrew Hines, coach Ludlow Bernard has spoken of his mission of getting the team back in the top four. In the three matches under his watch, Harbour View have beaten Barbican and Sporting Central at home, while losing to Montego Bay United away.
Home, as it did for them against Barbican and Sporting Central, should provide some comfort for Harbour View, but Humble Lion will be no walkovers.
“We have been in situations like this before. If you recall, it was the same when we faced Tivoli Gardens. We were separated by goal difference. Harbour View are two points behind us, so with a win, they can overtake us, so we have to get a positive result from this,” said Humble Lion’s coach, Donovan Duckie, who was brought in to save the team from a relegation fight.
This evening’s game, he said, will not be an easy one.
“We will have to go there and play good football, and that is what we intend to do. We also plan to enjoy ourselves,” Duckie explained.
While they have one of the deepest squads in the league, Humble Lion will miss key players Hugh Howell and Narado Brown to suspension and captain Jermaine Christian to injury. However, they will be able to call on Devon Hodges, Wolry and Kemeel Wolfe, Ricardo Cousins, and Andrew Vanzie.
Harbour View, on the other hand, will have the likes of Joel Senior, John-Ross Edwards, Jermaine Hue, Rozario Harriott, McKaully Tulloch, and their leading scorer, Ranique Muir, to do the job for them.
Source: The Jamaica Gleaner