The long awaited return of Jamaica’s top flight football, the Red Stripe Premier League, is finally here and will offer six tantalizing treats on what could be an opening day to remember. The start of the 2013-2014 league season was delayed by two weeks due to the need for the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and the Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA) to ratify proposed changes to the format of the competition and with that situation now finally resolved, it is time for serious action.
The long awaited return of Jamaica’s top flight football, the Red Stripe Premier League, is finally here and will offer six tantalizing treats on what could be an opening day to remember. The start of the 2013-2014 league season was delayed by two weeks due to the need for the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and the Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA) to ratify proposed changes to the format of the competition and with that situation now finally resolved, it is time for serious action.
For the Premier League clubs involved in the Flow Champions Cup, they would have had usefully match practice in midweek ahead of today’s opening games, but the team likely to be buzzing the most is Waterhouse.
The Drewsland based team will host Boys Town in what could be an opening day thriller starting at 5pm. Waterhouse has in their front line the Jamaican International Jermaine ‘Tuffy’ Anderson, who is the toast of the country after coming off the bench on Tuesday to score a stoppage time equalizer for the Reggae Boyz against Costa Rica, to keep their faint hopes of qualifying for the World Cup 2014 alive.
Their coach Junior Francis, is confident of victory and expressed this much to Yardie Sports. “It is always a ding dong battle between Waterhouse and Boys Town but we are confident. We are playing good football, the team chemistry is very good. We are expecting three points on Sunday. We have almost a full squad to choose from with only Lamar Nelson out with an ankle injury,” he said.
“Jermaine (Anderson) wants to score more goals. He wants to impress the national coach to make sure he is in the team the face the USA in our next World Cup qualifier. So he will be itching to score on Sunday. So you can expect that to inspire a good performance on the day,” he opined.
Last year marked the return of Cavalier SC from the football wilderness to the top flight. Having been away for a very long time, they gave a very good account of themselves and even played in the second end of round final, so good was their midseason form. However their performances cooled off in the latter part of the season and they will be looking for more consistency this term as they look to establish themselves as a premiership outfit. They will host 2011-2012 champions Portmore United who failed to make a serious attempt at retaining their title last season. Both teams will be looking for a good start and we are accustomed to them playing open attractive football, so fans could be in for a treat come 4:30 this afternoon..
Humble Lion who were plagued with managerial issues last season will host Arnett Gardens who had a good season under the guidance of Calvin Lewis last term. The approach to today’s encounter ,which starts at 3:30pm, could be telling as they will face each other again on Wednesday in one of three all premiership clashes in the Flow Champions Cup following Friday’s second round draw. Gregory Hall of Arnett Gardens admitted that playing Humble Lion twice in the space of four days was “interesting” and today’s first matchup could prove to be just that.
Tivoli Gardens will host Montego Bay United in a 3:30pm kick-off and neither team would have been pleased with last season’s outing. The aim by both camps must be to get off to a good start by taking all three points. Tivoli need to make the Edward Seaga Sports Complex the fortress it once was while the onus is on Mobay United to represent well for the ‘West’ as they are the only team from that end of the island playing in the country’s top flight.
Sporting Central Academy will be playing at a new home, Juici Patties Park, with a new coach Merron Gordon, and their first encounter will see them host the defending champions Harbour View who themselves have a new man at the helm. Both men in charge will be feeling the pressure to claim all three points as they seek to prove their credentials at this level.
The opening day fixture list is completed by a game between the two promoted teams. August Town will host Rivoli United at the UWI Bowl starting at 3:30pm and neither coach could ask for a better opening day draw. Both teams have added depth to their squads to be able to cope with life in the Premier League, so this match allows them the chance to get a good look at their new charges before facing the more established clubs. Three points today could prove vital in the race for survival later on in the season.
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