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Cargill (left) and Maxwell
Nodley Wright, Staff Reporter
LAST Sunday was the dress rehearsal. This evening at 5:00 will be the real thing when defending champions Harbour View take on Waterhouse at the National Stadium in the end of first round final.
Up for grabs are $75,000, a trophy and three bonus points for the winners with $45,000 and a point for the losers.
In last Sunday's game Harbour View, at home, comfortably put away Waterhouse. Though that could be seen as a psychological advantage, the level-headed Peter Cargill, who coaches Harbour View, does not necessarily see things that way.
"Maybe," Cargill said responding to the question of whether or not that win would give his team the edge.
"But on a new day, a new game, the reverse can happen. It can make the other team come more prepared, more enthusiastic, so we've to go out there and work hard," Cargill said.
Going out there to work hard is exactly what Geoffrey Maxwell is expecting from his players. In the last game the Waterhouse coach felt his team had a good first half but gave up a soft goal. Since then they have looked at a tape of the match with a view to correcting the errors today.
"We think we have done a lot of work this week to try and correct these lapses. We're pretty confident we can do very well."
If previously Harbour View were a team lacking in concentration and focus then it is not so now. Cargill outlined for his team set targets and has placed great emphasis on the team's focus. After their 2-0 win, one of the areas he congratulated his players on was their adherence to the game plan and the maintenance of focus.
"Our aim is to try and win the final. Our objective at the start of the season was to get to the end of round final and we now have to make the next step and win the game," Cargill said of today's encounter.
A key part of Harbour View's early season success was the play of captain Jermaine Hue. He was absent last week and the team did well without him as Robert Scarlett took over his role. A repeat of that form is necessary if they are to walk away with the three points. Additionally, they will be without the suspended Boris Johnson and Donald Stewart.
The replacements could be national representatives Tyrone Marshall - a direct replacement for Johnson - and Wolde Harris, a prolific goalscorer.
Harris could partner Fabian Taylor up front.
Like Harbour View, Waterhouse will make changes, but voluntary ones.
"There will be a few adjustments to the team which I'm very confident will make the team more compact and also more expressive," Maxwell said.
Maxwell mentioned a possible new strike partner for Kevin Lamey and the return of Leroy Smith who left last week's game early through injury.
