Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor
PORTMORE UNITED and Boys' Town are keen to nab all three points and the leadership spot in the Cash Plus Premier League when they meet in a rescheduled third-round encounter at Prison Oval in Spanish Town at 3:30 p.m. today.
The game was initially slated for Ferdie Neita Park on Sunday, but a release was issued on Saturday noting the field was in a waterlogged state due to recent heavy rains.
Weather patterns have improved since and Boys' Town and Portmore, with four and three points, respectively, from two matches, have the opportunity to leapfrog the league's current leaders - Harbour View and Tivoli Gardens - who are tied at five in what has turned out to be a competitive beginning to this year's elongated run for championship honours. The significance of the outcome is not lost on Portmore.
Tough game
"If we get a good result tomorrow, it can put us on top of the standings," said Portmore's coach, Linval Dixon. "It's going to be a tough game."
They edged newcomers Sporting Central of Clarendon 1-0 in their opening match, but lost a tough second encounter by the same margin at Waterhouse, where they finished with 10 men.
"We haven't played well in the first half of our opening games," Dixon said. "But we have worked hard and made adjustments and we are ready to go out there and get the job done."
Wolry Wolfe and Eric Vernon were both red carded at Waterhouse, but their team welcomes back four national youth players who were involved in the failed Under-23 Olympic play-off bid in Haiti last week - Rudolph Austin, Ricardo Cousins, Adrian Reid and goalie Dwayne Kerr. Dixon hailed their return as a "big plus."
While it might not have applied to their 1-1 home tie with Seba, those two words provide an apt description of Boys' Town's first result, an 2-1 away victory at August Town.
Michael Campbell and Mark Newsome got the goals for that victory and they will again lead the hunt for the Colour Reds in the duel later in the nation's old capital.
Even though they won, their coach, Andrew Price, had expressed displeasure at the finishing that was clearly a factor in their drawn match.
"A lot of our forwards are getting into goal scoring positions and not finishing," Price stated back then.
Since, Shawn McKoy has also joined their scoring roster and along with Campbell, Danzil Watson and ace George Vernal, should lead the assault to attain the maximum result, that would catapult them to the top of the standings.
"Tomorrow's game is going to be competitive," Price predicted yesterday. "With the postponement of our game on Sunday, a lot of teams have circled us. We want to keep pace with the leaders so we're looking for a positive result - whether it be a victory or a draw."
