Howard Walker | Jamaica Observer
THE Red Stripe Premier League resumes today following the Yuletide season with a full slate of matches in which leaders Harbour View host Arnett Gardens in a mouth-watering encounter at the Compound starting at 6:30 pm.
In other games: Boys’ Town tackle Rivoli United; Montego Bay United travel to Humble Lion; Portmore United welcome Cavalier; Tivoli Gardens play Sporting Central Academy and Waterhouse entertain August Town.
Harbour View, with a four-point lead atop of the points table on 30, will be severely tested by a dangerous but inconsistent Arnett Gardens aggregation in sixth spot on 18 points.
Arnett Gardens have won their last two games, dismissing Tivoli Gardens 2-1 and whipping Waterhouse 3-0, and based on that form, head coach Jerome Waite is expecting another good showing from his team.
“Harbour View are the leaders, so basically they are doing something right, but despite that, Arnett Gardens, more popularly known as the ‘Junglists’, are on the rise, winning our last two games, and we expect to move in a forward direction” said Waite.
He continued: “It will be a tough game knowing that we will be travelling to Harbour View, but we are still optimistic and looking forward to a good encounter.”
In their first-round match-up Harbour View won 2-1 and the champions will be aiming to complete the double and solidify their position atop of the standing.
Head coach Harold Thomas is cognisant of the fact that Arnett Gardens are on a high, but he remained confident of victory.
“At the moment Arnett is certainly rejuvenated coming off back-to-back victories and they are one of these teams that save their best for what we call big teams, so we know they are coming hard at us,” Thomas pointed out.
“We have been recovering from some knocks and we should be back to our best. It should be a very good game. I know their supporters are very enthusiastic about their performances of late, but we are hosting them and we want to keep that winning streak, so we will be going all-out to get three points as well,” noted Thomas.
Meanwhile, second-placed Montego Bay United, on 26 points, will be seeking to close the gap on the leaders, but have a difficult game against fourth-placed Humble Lion with 20 points.
Both teams battled to a 0-0 stalemate in the first round in St James and with the return leg now in Clarendon, home team Humble Lion must fancy themselves able to secure three points.
Waterhouse’s mettle will be tested with news of star striker Jermaine ‘Tuffy’ Anderson taking up a contract to play in El Salvador. The Drewsland outfit, in third spot on 21 points, will have to prove that life goes on after Anderson’s departure, when they host bottom-placed August Town on 11 points.
Former champions Portmore United, in 11th spot on 14 points, are unbeaten in their last four games and coach Calvin Lewis will be hoping to galvanise his troops against a Cavalier outfit in eighth spot on 18 points.
Cavalier were the first team to defeat Portmore United on the opening day and revenge will certainly be on Portmore’s mind, especially playing at home.
But Cavalier are no pushovers and were unlucky not to have squeezed out a victory over Harbour View in their 1-1 draw on December 22.
Another inconsistent team, Tivoli Gardens, lead the bottom half in seventh spot on 18 points, and are fancied to get the better of Sporting Central Academy, who are one place and a point below them. It should be an even contest in which home advantage should come into play, hence a victory for Tivoli Gardens.
The promoted Rivoli United have done better than most people predicted lying fifth place on 19 points and will prove a real handful for host Boys’ Town, who are struggling in 10th spot on 16 points.
Today’s games
3:00 pm Boys’ Town vs Rivoli United @ Collie Smith Drive
3:00 pm Humble Lion vs Montego Bay United @ Effortville Community Centre
3:00 pm Tivoli Gardens vs Sporting Central Academy @ Edward Seaga Stadium
5:00 pm Waterhouse vs August Town @ Drewsland Stadium
6:30 pm Harbour View vs Arnett Gardens @ Harbour View Stadium
7:00 pm Portmore United vs Cavalier @ Ferdie Neita Park