Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor
Portmore United midfielder Ricardo Cousins dribbles away from Rivoli United striker, Devon Hodges, during their Digicel Premier League opener at Ferdie Neita Park on Sunday. Defending champions Portmore won 2-0. The defending champions face Arnett Gardens today. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
CHAMPIONS PORTMORE United are seeking another victory to maintain their perfect start. Hosts Arnett Gardens have much to prove after faltering at the death in their first outing at Boys' Town.
In what promises to be a feisty match-up, the teams, which shared titles in back-to-back finals in the 2001-02/2002-03 seasons, face off in a showdown of mouth-watering proportions in the 'Jungle' at Tony Spaulding Sports Complex, the feature match on today's mid-week fixture of the Digicel Premier League.
Game time is 5:00 p.m., fairly long after four of the day's full fixtures, that are set for a 3:30 p.m. blast-off, but only an hour ahead of the other between promoted Rivoli and Waterhouse at Prison Oval in Spanish Town.
Like Rivoli, who travelled for their first encounter, Jerome Waite's Arnett succumbed on the road, only a stone's throw away at Boys' Town where Peter Keyes hurt them with a stoppage-time winner in the one-goal Trench Town derby.
Ball-handling sweeper Desmond Breakenridge, who leads the Junglists, will be keen on ensuring there is no last-minute lapse this time, as they seek to repair the damage against very dangerous opponents, who opened their title defence with a fairly comfortable 2-0 win at home against their St Catherine counterparts, Rivoli.
"Portmore is an all-round team," noted Arnett coach Waite. "They started on a winning note but Arnett fell short in added time. We'll try to put that behind us and move on."
He added: "Tomorrow we're going for three points, so this game will definitely be all-out attack. It's our home game. Our supporters will be out in numbers, so we have to put on a good show."
For Portmore, slippery and cool Carlington Smith scored both goals for his technically and tactically savvy unit that plays with a vast amount of control and confidence. Despite not scoring Sunday, his strike partner, Steven Morrissey, is a finisher of note and they will, undoubtedly, pose problems for Arnett, even without Bryan Bayliss who got injured late in the Rivoli match.
Difficult
"It's a league situation so a win on the road is just as important as any other," noted Portmore's technical director, Donovan Duckie.
"It's going to be difficult, playing at Arnett is always difficult," he noted but re-emphasised their ambitions to secure a victory.
Not to be outdone, skill has generally been a hallmark of the Arnett team, which relies heavily on stalwarts Fabian Davis, Cornel Chin-Sue and Kevin Wilson. Today won't be different but they will be hoping to capitalise on open chances in contrasting fashion to that displayed by Leon Irving on Sunday, when he couldn't finish one-on-one with the opposing goalie.
In this instance, the task is likely to be increasingly difficult with national 'keeper Shawn Sawyers standings between the sticks for the Linval Dixon-coached Portmore, whose back line is marshalled by the ever reliable Grenada team captain, sweeper Anthony Modeste.
Last-minute equaliser
With former Harbour View man and power-kicking midfielder Daniel Shaw and prolific striker Damion Harwood in their ranks, Portland second-season team, St Georges, who found a last-minute equaliser at Waterhouse, established themselves as a real bogey for their opponents in the previous campaign. They embarrassed the Caribbean club champions 2-0 twice and drew goalless in their other meeting.
However, the Kingstonians are blessed with creative talent in midfielders Jermaine Hue and Keith Kelly, and with decent finishers such as Kavin Bryan and Mitchily Waul to boot, could extend the awesome form that landed a 4-0 success over Village, the biggest winning margin on Sunday.
Having proven their worth in a 1-1 away draw off national juvenile Keammar Daley's spectacular finish at league runners-up Tivoli in their debut outing Sunday, first-timers Meadhaven will be looking to transform strengthened belief into victory when hosting Sporting Central Academy.
However, Christopher Dawes' Clarendonians are young and just as brash and, with that tad bit of one-year experience, won't be awed in a tough hunt for victory number two.
| STANDINGS |
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| H. View | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
Portmore | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Sporting | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Boys' Town | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Waterhouse | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| St Georges | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Tivoli | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Meadhaven | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Village | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Rivoli | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Arnett | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Reno | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Todays games
Rivoli United vs Waterhouse at Prison Oval at 4:00 p.m.
Meadhaven vs Sporting Central at Drewsland at 3:30 p.m.
Arnett vs Portmore at Tony Spaulding Sports Complex at 5:00 p.m.
St Georges vs Harbour View at Lynch Park at 3:30 p.m.
Reno vs Tivoli at St Elizabeth Technical High School at 3:30 p.m.
Village vs Boys' Town at Jarrett Park at 7:00 p.m.
