Photo: Montego Bay United goalkeeper Jacomeno Barrett will be hoping to keep a clean sheet against Portmore United when the two come face to face on match day one of the 2015-2016 season of the Red Stripe Premier League.
Five matches will be played on Sunday September 6th as the 2015-2106 season of the Red Stripe Premier League gets underway across the island.
The two early games which begin at 3:30pm are FC Reno hosting Humble Lion at the Frome Complex while Tvoli Gardens FC will host Cavalier SC at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex.
FC Reno can count themselves lucky to escape the drop last season, securing their premier league status on the last day of the season at the expense of Sporting Central FC, after leading the league for much of the early part of the season and even going on to win the All-Island Knock-Out title, the FLOW Champions Cup. Their precipitous fall after winning that title went uncontrolled for much of the rest of the season before the crucial goals of leading goal scorer Craig Foster kept them up.
Without the services of Foster this season, FC Reno will be favourites for the drop and need to show real ambition if they are to remain in the league in their sophomore season, after their very long time out of the top flight. They face a strong and confident Humble Lion who surprised many by reaching the playoffs last season. Coach Donovan Duckie took over a floundering club in December last year and took them out of the relegation zone in a remarkable run that almost saw them into the final. Duckie will be looking to go all the way this term.
Both Tivoli Gardens and Cavalier SC had overall mediocre seasons last term and will be looking for a good start to infuse confidence in their respective camps.
Tivoli has a new man at the helm in the form of Christopher Bender following the passing of Alvin Shaw during the off season. Bender will be looking for a good start at a ground where the supports are as fickle as the weather.
Cavalier, with their young unit, will also be seeking a confidence booster in what is expected to be a keen and close contest with few goals on offer. This game however has the potential to go against the grain and produce quite a few goals if both sets of defence fail to be switched on early.
Rivoli United welcome former champions Waterhouse FC at 4:00pm at the Prison Oval field. Waterhouse is now being guided by Calvert Fitzgerald, the same man who was at the helm of the St. Catherine based club last season. Rivoli will look to deny Fitzgerald a win on his first trip back since leaving, while Waterhouse will seek to erase memories of a poor finish to last season in the league. Margins will be tight in what is often a low scoring encounter between the two. Expect tough tackles in this match.
Last season’s beaten finalists and 2013-2014 champions, Montego Bay United, has not won a season opener in four years. Under the guidance of new coach, veteran American Tim Hankinson they will be looking to turn around their fortunes when they welcome another former champion, Portmore United to the Catherine Hall Sports Complex at 5:00pm.
Portmore returns to the league after one season out and will be aiming to make a statement of intent to all and sundry about their readiness to mix it up this season. Mobay on the other hand will still have fresh memories of their loss to Arnett Gardens in the final last term and will be looking to wipe away some of the pain with a win today.
The late kick-off sees two of the most storied teams in the league in one of the fiercest derbies in the RSPL, come face to face in a mouth-watering season opener. Harbour View hosts Boys Town at the Harbour View Mini-Stadium (Compound) at 6:30pm.
Ludlow Bernard gets a full season in charge to show his mettle, after taking over from Andrew Hines midway last season. The spectators at Harbour View ‘mark hard’ and will not be pleased with anything other than a pleasing performance, coupled with a win. Former Reggae Boy, Ian ‘Pepe’ Goodison is expected to line up for the Stars of the East and many fans will be eager to see how much he has left in the tank at the spritely age of 42.
Andrew Price has admitted that his team is short of fitness but that will not mean that the Red Brigade goes in hunt of anything other than a win. Price managed to claim two narrow 1-0 wins over his arch rivals last season including an away win and will seek to ride his luck today.
The final match of the weekend’s fixtures is the Monday night encounter at 8:30pm, between defending champions Arnett Gardens and newcomers UWI FC at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.
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