Nodley Wright, Staff ReporterTHE JOCKEYING for favourable positions at the end of the second round of the Craven 'A' National Premier League is expected to take on even more intensity this afternoon as another five matches take place in the third series of games.
Hazard host Reno at Ferdie Neita Park, Wadadah take on Village United at Jarrett Park, Tivoli Gardens play away to Constant Spring, Harbour View entertain Waterhouse and Duhaney Park surrender their home advantage against Arnett Gardens at the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex. All games get underway at 3:00 p.m.
At Ferdie Neita Park, Hazard, who narrowly missed making it to the first end-of-round final, take on Reno who were strong challengers. Like Hazard, Reno were beaten on their home ground last week and will be aiming to return to winning ways.
If this is to happen they will rely on the goalscoring prowess of Kirk Wright, the midfield stability of Patrick Graham and the goalkeeping of national shot-stopper Aaron Lawrence.
Outside of first-round champions Arnett Gardens, Hazard conceded the least number of goals in the last round and it will take a lot of work to pierce their defensive line led by the very impressive and fast-improving goalkeeper Shawn Sawyers.
Sawyers will also be backed up Linval Dixon, Claude Davis, Skedon Battiste - all defenders with national experience. Adrian Mitchell could also feature as well as former national defender Desmond Smith.
Their midfield led by Omar Daley and Wolry Wolfe should be hard to contain. Kevin Deerr, if he takes the field, could cause a lot of problems alongside the hard-working Roen Nelson.
Coach Dave Clarke's plan to win all nine second-round matches has already gone off the rails with a handsome beating on their homeground last week at the hands of the promoted Village United. They did save face three days later with a sudden-death extra-time win over Harbour View, the same team they beat at the beginning of round two, in the Jackie Bell Knockout.
Tivoli did a good job on Constant Spring and sharpshooter Greg Gardener in particular in their most recent meeting.
The Constant Spring they faced then is a different team from the one they are likely to meet today. They are playing with a greater degree of confidence and with far more pace. Gardner will not be the only offensive weapon that they will have to contend with. Oneal Morrison has settled in well and will cause problems as well as the very quick and skillful Steve Mitchell.
Tivoli Gardens have never been short of talent and if they get their heads together then a win at Constant Spring would not be out of the question. Marco McDonald and Craig Whyte are two of the most feared defenders in the competition; Steve Green and Christopher Nicholas - even half fit - are trouble to defenders. Dwayne Richards is quick and in rich goalscoring form while Roland Dean is showing more and more that he belongs. Midfield stability should come from Kasai Hinds while goalkeeper Edsell Scott, if he plays, should command his troops from the back.
The Harbour View/Waterhouse game is important to both teams for a number of reasons. For Waterhouse it will continue a positive start, the total opposite of what took place in the first round and continue a winning trend over Harbour View this season.
Harbour View's freefall and later inconsistent form started with a 0-1 defeat to Waterhouse after then coach Chris Ziadie issued a threat to quit if his team did not win.
Following Harbour View's win over Reno away from home last week, a win over Waterhouse could cement a run of consistency.
At the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex, the pathetic form of Duhaney Park is expected to continue despite having a new coach for the second successive week.
The man who should be in charge is Duhaney Park stalwart Utah Blade who took over from Geoffrey Maxwell who resigned last week, less than a week after taking over.
Duhaney Park showed a lot of character in beating Bull Bay in the Jackie Bell Knockout competition but they seem to lack enough quality to contain Arnett Gardens with Walter Boyd and Jonathan Williams both in a rampant mood.
TODAY'S GAMES
Hazard vs Reno at Ferdie Neita Park
Wadadah vs Village United at Jarrett Park
Constant Spring vs Tivoli Gardens at Constant Spring
Harbour View vs Waterhouse at Harbour View
Duhaney Park vs Arnett Gardens at Tony Spaulding Sports Complex
All games start at 3:00 p.m.
STANDINGS
Second Round
P W D L GF GA GD Pts Total pts
Wadadah 2 1 1 0 5 1 4 4 19
Arnett Gardens 2 1 1 0 2 1 1 4 27
Waterhouse 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 4 14
Village United 2 1 0 1 3 1 2 3 11
Harbour View 2 1 0 1 4 4 0 3 15
Hazard United 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3 19
Tivoli Gardens 2 1 0 1 2 4 -2 3 11
Constant Spring 2 0 2 0 2 2 0 2 22
Reno 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1 16
Duhaney Park 2 0 0 2 1 6 -6 0 5
