Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer

TIVOLI GARDENS and Portmore United will be in a position this evening to decide their pre-Christ-mas present when they contest the end-of-first-round final of the Cash Plus Premier League (CPPL) at the Harbour View Stadium.

Up for grabs in the 6:00 p.m. final is a total of $750,000 with the winners claiming $500,000 and the runners-up, $250,000.

On statistics alone, Portmore United would be considered favourites, what with the fact that they secured their spot in the final with games to spare, while the other teams battled for the right to meet them in the final.

They removed all doubt about their right to be in the final when they stopped the highly-fancied Seba United 2-1, while others, such as Harbour View, faltered.

While Portmore United deter-mined their own fate, Tivoli Gardens were fortunate to benefit from slips by Seba, who had three opportunities to secure their place, and Harbour View, who had two.

The head-to-head clash would also see Portmore United getting the advantage having disposed of Tivoli Gardens 3-0 in their first-round match-up. That though is the past as far as Brian Rose, manager of Tivoli Gardens, is concerned.

"It is a challenge and one that we will have to rise to as we have fought our way into it. They beat us 3-0 in the preliminary round but that was then. The final is a whole different business," Rose told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday.

"As far as we are concerned, it is back to square one for this game. We have faith in our team and are looking to them to turn the tables."

Injured players

If the tables are to be turned, Tivoli Gardens will have to do so without a number of their key players. Among them are captain Kasai Hinds, forward Roland Dean and Jermaine Allen - all injured.

There are also doubts about faithful servant Steve Green who is just returning from injury and may not be ready for a battle just yet. Defensive stalwart Victor Thompson buried his mother yesterday and may not be in the frame of mind for a game.

In their absence, the Tivoli Gardens family will be counting on Edsel Scott, Christopher Jackson, Orane Simpson, Craig Stewart, Denroy Gordon, Dwight Heron, Damion Gordon, Horace Howell and Roberto Fletcher to claim the prize for them.

One goal

For Christopher Bender, assistant coach at Portmore United, getting to this final is the fulfilment of a short-term goal.

"The final is just one of our goals. We set ourselves three main goals. Firstly, we wanted to reach the end-of-round final, secondly, we want to retain the Red Stripe Cup and thirdly we want to win the league," Bender said. "It is the first time for us a club in an end-of-round or mid-season final and we intend to take it."

The players, he said, have bought into goals of the club and understand how important a victory is.

"We are really looking forward to the game and hopefully we can carry over our form from the league into the final," he said.

Strong line-up

Unlike Tivoli Gardens, Portmore United will have almost their strongest line-up. Only the trio of Carlington Smith, Jermaine Richards and Ryan Powell are not available for selection.

They have a beautiful balance of youth and experience and can call on the likes of former Jamaica utility player Onandi Lowe, Kevin Deerr, Fabian Davis, Wolry Wolfe, Mario Swaby, Tyrone Sawyers, Shawn Sawyers, Steven Morrissey, Adrien Mitchell and Anthony Modeste.

Today's game