By Audley Boyd, Assistant Sports Editor
THE TEAMS which finished one-two in last season's Wray and Nephew National Premier League, Portmore United and Arnett Gardens, continue their quest to conquer the region today.
Both will tackle Trinidad and Tobago opposition in the eastern Caribbean country in semi-final games of the CONCACAF Club Championship.
Champions Portmore will play Trinidad's Pro League champions W-Connection at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium while runners-up Arnett Gardens match-up against San Juan Jabloteh at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. Both games are set to kick off at 5:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. local time).
The Jamaican teams left for the first-leg encounters early yesterday and arrived at their destination in the afternoon.
They advanced to this stage with opening-round victories over Netherland Antilles teams FC Barber and Jong Colombia.
Portmore eliminated FC Barber 3-1 on aggregate after beating their Dutch-Caribbean rivals 1-0 here and 2-1 in the away leg in Curacao with a double from ace scorer Roen Nelson, the NPL's record leading goalscorer after last season's 30-goal feast.
Importantly, the St. Catherine team gave up home advantage because they want to save money and will play both matches in Trinidad and Tobago instead of hosting the return clash at Ferdie Neita Park next week Wednesday.
Clive Marshall, the team's manager, said "our budget was running close to $900,000" to host the game but due to a deal worked out with W-Connection, they may now only be responsible for accommodation - a savings well in excess of $600,000.
LOSS OF HOME ADVANTAGE
The loss of home advantage did not seem to bother coach Lenworth Hyde much, as he brushed off the move saying "... we'll play anywhere".
Interestingly, W-Connection won their first leg match 3-0 away in Suriname, but lost their home tie 2-0 in Trinidad.
Arnett Gardens, though, will host their home leg next Wednesday. They advanced to this stage with a resounding 13-1 aggregate thrashing of Jong Colombia - winning 5-1 in Curacao and 8-0 at Tony Spaulding Sports Complex.
Diminutive striker Ray Graham led the scoring in that series with a hat-trick in the first leg and the opening goal as they romped home.
They have since added some influential players - national midfielder Cornel Chin-Sue, Everton Bunsie and Kevin Wilson, to their line-up.
However, they will be without striker Walter Boyd who is still receiving treatment for an injury he picked up in the first-round tie in Curacao against Jong Colombia, which has kept him out of action since.
