Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer

JEROME WAITE will have an excellent opportunity today to test his true effect on Arnett Gardens when he leads them at home against Waterhouse in the Cash Plus Premier League (CPPL).

Waite has resurrected the team, which was in contention to be relegated when he took over from Max Straw towards the end of the second round. They immediately improved even further with the addition of Onandi Lowe, Fabian Davis and Garfield Rennicks, all of whom have made their presence felt with goals.

Waterhouse have been having a little trouble since the Jackie Bell KO final, which they lost in the arbitration room following a disturbance in the final. Since then they have lost to Seba United and played to a 1-1 draw with Portmore United.

Encounters between these two teams have always been keenly contested but what should add even more sting to this encounter is the involvement of former Arnett Gardens player Leon Strickland and the fact that both teams want to cement their place in the top six of the league. According to Waite, it will be a question of greater need.

Put up a fight

"Waterhouse are never easy and will be coming to put up a fight in the lions' den. Waterhouse want the points, but Arnett Gardens need them and that will make the difference," Waite said.

In other games, Sporting Central will go for their first win of the season when they host Reno at Brancourt. After reasonable performances in the first and second rounds, the Clarendon representatives have found the going tough in the third round with heavy defeats to Portmore United and Arnett respectively.

Today's game is crucial for both teams as a loss for either side could see further slippage towards the drop zone. Both teams are on 26 points, just three above second-from-bottom Village United.

Village United, on the other hand, have been experiencing a good run of form and have won three and drawn the other in their past four games.

Today they travel away to face a Harbour View team eager to arrest their flagging form. Harbour View are troubled by the fact that top strikers Fabian Taylor and Kavin Bryan have been carrying injuries, while the likes of Kemar Petrekin have not a willingness or the ability to fill the breach.

The August Town aggregation must be a worried bunch as they are now firmly placed at the bottom of the table with no real hope of improvement following their intake in the transfer window. Daniel Shaw has been popping up with the goals and in fact shares the lead at the top of the goalscoring charts but he will need a lot of help if they are to avoid relegation.

Competitive season

St Georges have been competitive all season and should be fancied to get the better of August Town - especially with the form of Brian Wollaston and Damion Harwood. At Jarrett Park, Seba United will be hoping to take advantage of Tivoli Gardens' reputation as poor travellers when they meet today. Tivoli Gardens recovered on the weekend from a morale-sapping 3-0 loss to Village United, while Seba failed to follow up their impressive 1-0 win over Waterhouse in the opening game of the round as they fell 2-0 to Boys' Town on the weekend.

Overall leaders Portmore United have threatened to be consistent in the second round before losing their way with a string of poor results. They now find themselves a point above Tivoli Gardens and would not want to lose anymore points as they hope to increase the gap on Tivoli.

Boys' Town are the only team in the round with a perfect record and would not want to spoil that. Their task, however, will not be an easy one as they will face the deepest team in the league with Roen Nelson in good form in front of goal. He will be supported by the likes of Ricardo Cousins, Eric Vernon, Wolry Wolfe and Steven Morrissey.

TODAY'S GAMES