By Paul A. Reid, Staff Reporter
Deerr
WESTERN BUREAU:
FAVOURITES Hazard and western Jamaica's lone representative, Village United, will square off today in the first leg of the Wray & Nephew National Premier League (NPL) semi-finals at Jarrett Park, starting at 7:00p.m.
The coaches of both teams, Hazard's Lenworth Hyde and Village's Geoffrey Maxwell, were confident of their chances.
Hyde is hoping the momentum his team developed at the end of the season, including scoring seven goals in their last two games, will carry over to today's game, while Maxwell is hoping "home support" will give his team the edge.
Hazard's offence, led by the country's top marksman Roen Nelson with 26 strikes, is far better than Village's with 62 goals to 42 for Village.
In addition to Nelson, Hazard is expected to include Kevin Deerr and Andrew Morrison in their attack against a Village defence that Hyde said was "shaky".
"We are coming to play attacking football, running down the flanks and squaring the ball into the middle. We will be playing at a high pace and there will be lots of movements," promised Hyde.
Village is expected to counter with the pair of Teafore Bennett and Fabian Dawkins, both of who have scored 12 goals so far, while mid-season transfer Daniel Ricketts and Conroy Graham will feature in the attack.
The defences could go a far way in deciding the outcome, however, and while both teams are blessed with outstanding goalkeepers, Hazard have the edge with the more experienced backline anchored by national player Claude Davis, with Derrick Smith and Tyrone Sawyers.
Hazard hold the edge in face-to-face meetings between both teams this season winning three of the four games but that means nothing to Maxwell.
"This is a new season all four teams have everything to play for and we are all starting at zero," he said. "Nobody has won anything yet."
