Nodley Wright, Staff ReporterCONSTANT SPRING'S opponents in the first end-of-round final of the 2001/2002 National Premier League could be known today after the game between Hazard United and Arnett Gardens.
Both teams meet in the rescheduled (NPL) game at Ferdie Neita Park which is seen as do-or-die by both sides but moreso for Hazard.
A win for Hazard will definitely earn them a place in the December 16 final while a draw for Arnett Gardens would push them to 14 points with a game in hand against Tivoli Gardens three days later.
Arnett Gardens go into today's game with 14 days of rest but for coach Jerome Waite this will not affect his players too much as they are "aware of the seriousness of the game and are ready for it".
"The players are all looking forward to it. We all know it is do-or-die," Waite said. The fact that his players were not in action last week, Waite said, would not affect them as he kept them "focussed and in the frame of mind" for this game. Waite said midfielder Fabian Davis and forward Walter Boyd would be the only absentees for today's game.
"The fact that they will be missing we have to live with. Davis is injured while Boyd will be attending the funeral service of a family member. It is family so he has to pay his last respects," Waite said.
"The players realise the situation. Whoever are chosen realise that they are playing for a team and will have to do their part."
Boyd will definitely not play but one should not be surprised if Davis takes the field.
Hazard, according to Waite, are a hard-running team which keeps possession of the ball. Hazards major strength, he said, was their defensive unit which is led by national captain Linval Dixon and includes Claude Davis and Sheldon Battiste who also have national experience and Adrian Mitchell.
Like Waite, former national representative and Hazard senior player Paul Young sees the game as a crucial one.
"It is a crucial match especially that we are playing at home. We have to defend the three points. That is the key we do not want to lose at home."
Young said the team had been working well heading up to the game and that all members of the team were fit and ready.
Midfielder Omar Daley and Dixon have shaken off their respective injuries. Another plus for the team should be the form of forward Kevin Deerr who has rediscovered his appetite for goals. The talented but inconsistent player has been producing the goods for his team since being pushed back into the forward position by coach Lenworth Hyde.
The second match of the day will be the televised encounter pitting the rebounding Harbour View against Wadadah. Game time is 1:00 p.m. Both teams are out of contention for the end-of-round final but the game is still one of significance as each point will add up in the final round.
Harbour View's Peter Cargill will be using this game to help develop a pattern of consistency.
"We are trying to get some consistency going," Cargill said.
"We have gone two games without dropping a point so we want to continue on that track. That is the objective right now," he said while pointing out that that besides forward Fabian Taylor who has an injured ankle, all his players are ready.
For Wadadah's Anthony 'Follies' Williams, the emphasis in today's game will be finishing.
"Our success is dependent on how well we do in the final third of the field. The team has been playing well in all other departments," Williams said.
"Finishing is a concern of us right now ... we have been working on that in our training sessions. I think that once we can get it right then it will make it much easier for us to move from there."
