By Nodley Wright, Staff Reporter
Tivoli's Nicholas
WITH HAZARD United having already qualified for the semi-finals of the Wray and Nephew National Premier League, the battle is heating up for the three remaining places.
A full set of games will take place at 3:30 p.m. with the exception of the Wadadah/Reno clash at Jarrett Park which gets going at 4:00 p.m today.
In contention for places in the semis are Village United - in joint third place with Arnett Gardens - who host relegation-bound Bull Bay at the Elletson Wakeland Sports Complex. Defending champions Arnett Gardens host the ever improving Rivoli United at Tony Spaulding Sports Complex.
Rivoli United have been getting closer and closer to the expressed desire of their coach Bradley Stewart of knocking off one of the top four teams of Harbour View, Hazard, Village United and Arnett Gardens. On Sunday they took the lead against Harbour View and then played to 2-2 draw with the more fancied team. Today, against Arnett Gardens, they will be taking one more shot at a big team.
End of second round finalists Waterhouse are not in the frame for a semi-final place but will want to show that they are not far off the pace when they journey to Constant Spring to meet the team which frustrates with brilliance one day and a performance so poor the next outing that they do not seem to belong.
Seba United, even if Theodore Whitmore and Ian Goodison return to full fitness, are not expected to test Hazard seriously at Ferdie Neita Sports Complex.
The match many will want to see though is the Tivoli Gardens/Harbour View encounter at the Harbour View Mini Stadium. Tivoli see themselves as being talented enough to be in the top four of the NPL and would want to claim the scalp of the second-ranked team if only to prove that they are a better side.
"To beat Harbour View at Harbour View is not a big task because we have beaten them there every time," said a confident Tivoli Gardens coach, Mark Mendel.
Harbour View's Donovan Hayles is confident that things will be in his team's favour today. "Tivoli had success against us the last time but things have changed and I'm quite confident we can come up with three points come today," Hayles said.
"We have to get three points, we have to put ourselves in that safe zone," added Hayles stating his aim of securing a semi-final spot. According to him, "the earlier we get there the better".
At Hayles' disposal could be the national duo of defender Robert Scarlett and forward Fabian Taylor, who missed Sunday's game against Rivoli.
Tivoli could also be boosted by the return of national defender Marco McDonald who has been on the injured list for months with a broken foot. With McDonald shoring up the defence Tivoli will be looking to national forward Christopher Nicholas to lead their goal chase.
