Nodley Wright, Staff ReporterFORMER CHAMPIONS Tivoli Gardens will today seek to further their goal of securing a semi-final place in the Craven A National Premier League (NPL) football competition.
A full slate of matches is on today with three rounds of scheduled play to go. Harbour View host semi-final hopefuls Waterhouse at 7:00 p.m. while Wadadah and Olympic Gardens engage each other at Elletson Wakeland in a relegation dogfight.
Constant Spring will try to keep their hopes of a semi-final spot alive when they host the lowly Seba United while Hazard entertain Reno at Monymusk. The match of the day though is Tivoli Gardens at Arnett Gardens.
On Thursday, Tivoli Gardens continued their march with a 1-0 win over Constant Spring at Railway Oval to advance to 43 points, seven behind runaway leaders Harbour View who have already qualified.
Their opponents today have had an up and down season and must still be bitterly disappointed following a 3-0 loss to DC United in the Giants Cup on Wednesday.
According to coach Jerome Waite, the players are getting their minds in shape for today's big clash.
"The vibes in the camp are good right now," Waite said. "It is growing back to a high. It was a disappointment for the team ... it was a professional team that we played and we did fairly well but have been falling short in scoring," he said.
Though Arnett Gardens are playing at home, they are not clear favourites for a win as they have struggled to score while Tivoli Gardens have no difficulty in that department with returning captain Steve Green, Christopher Nicholas, Andrew Chisholm and Nashan Allen all capable of providing goals.
"Presently we are in fourth spot and we have five games to go. We need to start taking the points to secure a semi-final spot," said Waite.
What pleases Waite ahead of this game is the return of forward Kevin Wilson who has been out injured for months. Though he did not score against DC United he showed he was back to his best and in combination with Fabian Davis, Cornel Chin-Sue and Leroy Smith could be dangerous.
Tivoli Gardens' new coach, Dave Clarke, has had just one match in charge of the team but believes the change should not affect his team's chances of winning.
"The good thing about it is that since early December I was assistant to the previous coach," Clarke said.
Another question mark surrounding Clarke's team is injuries. Among those injured are the electric midfielder Jermaine Johnson.
"We have a few injuries, Conroy Brown, Kasai Hinds went back on the injured list, Orville Campbell and now Jermaine but we have been going like that since the start of the second round where we have improvised. We have adequate replacements and it is not anything new," he said.
