Nodley Wright, staff reporterAFTER MONTHS of jockeying for positions by the 10 teams in the Craven A National Premier League competition, it is now down to the final four when the top teams meet in the semi-final round today.
The Harbour View Mini-Stadium will be the site of the doubleheader which kicks off at 5:00 p.m. In the opening game runaway leaders, the consistent Hazard United, go up against free-scoring Tivoli Gardens. That game will be followed by the 7:00 p.m. clash of perennial rivals Harbour View and defending champions Arnett Gardens.
In this round, early form will account for little as each team will have to perform on the spot and under pressure.
Hazard's coach, Lenworth Hyde, could feel that his team has a psychological advantage going into this game. They beat Tivoli Gardens in their final meeting of the season to break the deadlock in matches between the teams this season.
Additionally, they were the first team to qualify while Tivoli Gardens had to wait on a last-day win, good fortune and Hazard holding Waterhouse to a draw in order for them to earn their place.
The cautious man that he is though, Hyde will not take anything for granted.
"It wasn't their (Tivoli's) strongest team because Steve Green and (Marco) McDonald didn't play (when the sides last met).
"We just have to focus on this game, stick to our game plan and try and get some goals and don't give up any. In the games that we drew we outplayed them. In one of the games they outplayed us," Hyde said.
What is of importance today, Hyde said, was a good performance in the first game. The first game is very important. It (a place in the final) can be decided from the first one so we have to take it very seriously and try to win it. We want to keep the players relaxed and not get the tension too high in the camp," he said.
Hazard have perhaps the deepest squad of all the teams in the competition. A number of their players have been in and around the national and national age group squads. Among them are former national captain Christopher Dawes who should return to marshall the midfield as well as Sheldon Battiste. Both are returning from injuries. Also with national experience are goalkeeper Shawn Sawyers, Claude Davis, Omar Daley, Sean Fraser, Kevin Deerr, Paul Young and Wolry Wolfe. Add to this bunch the competition's leading goalscorer, Roen Nelson, who gets good assistance from Andrew Morrison and Kirk Ramsay and the depth of Hazard is obvious.
Tivoli Gardens are no weaklings themselves as they too have a number of players with national credentials. In their squad are goalkeeper Edsel Scott, Marco McDonald, Kasai Hinds, Raymond Smith, Steve Green, Christopher Nicholas and Dawyne Richards. The clinical finisher Roland Dean should soon earn a call to Jamaica's Under-23 team. Even with the pedigree of his squad, Tivoli Gardens' coach, Dave Clarke, sees his team as the underdogs.
"Based on the situation since the start of the Premier League, we are the underdogs. Of the four teams, we have the least number of points. The other three teams have won trophies and money," he said.
The underdog status Clarke believes means that the pressure will be more on the other teams to perform than his.
"I know the results won't be based on that but it's only left for one team fill the slot. Of the four Tivoli are under the least amount of pressure.
"The pressure as such is on Hazard as they finished first," added Clarke who is a little bit worried about the fitness of his defensive anchor McDonald who limped out of training on Thursday evening.
While McDonald is a concern, the side should be boosted by the return of the midfield lynchpin, Steve Green.
In the final game of the evening, Arnett Gardens, whose form fell off after the first round, will be aiming to show that they are capable of defending their championship. For them to do so they would have to get improved performances from the little livewire Jonathan Williams, Fabian Davis who is short of confidence following a number of knee injuries and Walter Boyd who is still not 100 per cent following injuries and a four-game suspension.
Kevin Wilson has been steadily improving while the backline of Eugene Barnes, Shane Stevens, Oneil Dunn and Gerald Neil have been holding their own.
"It's two good teams, two technically prepared teams playing good, tactical football," was how Jerome Waite, Arnett Gardens coach, saw the matchup.
"The Harbour View team has been doing well. In the past two games they have scored 12 goals and they have a good defensive unit. Arnett, we're the defending champions and we haven't been scoring since our last couple of games but nevertheless, this is crunch time and this is a team that is expected to rise to the occasion," he continued.
Harbour View's coach, Peter Cargill, who gives little away, said the game would be tough.
"They have the experience of the semi-final round and final round as we do. We're looking to take the initiative, but we know it will not be easy. We have scored 12 goals in our past two games so we're looking to continue the trend of finishing well. We think we stand a very good chance of winning."
Harbour View have had an indifferent season and struggled for months to find the back of the net on a consistent basis due to the absence of Fabian Taylor who struggled with a long-term ankle injury. Since his return in March he has scored six goals.
In addition to Taylor, Harbour View, if they are to win, will need the best out of the midfield maestro Jermaine Hue and his companions in that department, Daniel Shaw and Kahreem Cooke. Robert Scarlett is very dangerous overlapping on the left flank while Oneil Smith, William Richards, Clifton Waugh and Baris Johnson should shore up the defence.
"It is the semi-final and it brings about pressure. Some people strive under this pressure and some don't so it will come down to the mental aspect as well," Cargill said.
"We know that anywhere and on any ground it's going to be tough. We know this ground so we can try to push as much as possible, but on the day it's to come with your A game as much as possible," he said.
