Photo: Montego Bay United striker Owayne Gordon (centre) battles Arnett Gardens players, Dicoy Williams (right) and Marvin Morgan (left) for possession during their Red Stripe Premier League match at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex earlier this season. The two teams will come face to face again on Sunday, but Gordon will miss the game due to international commitments with the national team.
With just three sets of matches left to be played in the third and final round of the Red Stripe Premier League regular season, defending champions Arnett Gardens will host last season’s runners-up Montego Bay United in what may just be a dress rehearsal for the semi-final round of the competition.
Mobay United sits second on 56 points, one behind leaders Portmore United and two above the champions who they will face at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex starting at 3:30pm on Sunday.
Mobay has not had good fortune against the teams in the top four this season, losing on all three occasions to Portmore, while drawing at home and losing away to Arnett Gardens. They have also had only one win and two draws against fourth placed UWI FC, who are newcomers to the league.
Despite having to travel, the former champions will be hoping to get things right on Sunday and put pressure on the league leaders Portmore who host a desperate Waterthouse FC at Juici Park in Clarendon.
Mobay will be without their leading goal scorer Owayne Gordon who is on international duty with the Reggae Boyz and coach Paul ‘Tegat’ Davis will be hoping that someone else will step up in his stead.
Mobay has the stingiest defence in the league, conceding only 20 goals while scoring the most (48) to boast the best goal difference of +28 so far. They will be hoping for a good team effort, led by their effective captain Dwayne Ambusley to sneak past the ‘Junglists’, who have had a rough time of it since returning from the first round of the CFU Club Championships.
Arnett have not given up on topping the charts at the end of the regular season and claiming the prize of $1 million that goes along with it. Three points on Sunday will get them closer to that reality and they will be looking for a moral boosting win after suffering a shock 2-0 defeat away to the UWI last time out.
Kemal “Tull” Malcolm is the leading scorer for the champions with 12 goals and they will be looking to him to lead the line against a mean Mobay defence that has the benefit of one of the league’s best goalkeeper’s, Jacomeno Barrett, as the last line of resistance.
Both teams will be looking to win on Sunday, as well the as the two games that will follow, in an effort to top the league as much as to avoid each other in the first knock-out phase of the competition.
Come what may, the fans can expect a cracking contest from both teams who know each other fairly well. A low scoring encounter is expected, with a draw being as likely a result as either team winning.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login