Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer

AFTER 11 series of matches, the Wray and Nephew National Premier League (NPL) first round will come to an end this evening at the National Stadium with a clash of the top two teams at 7:00 in the second game of a double-header.

Prior to that, Portmore United and Boys' Town will go at it in the Under-21 final at 5:00 p.m. At stake in the NPL game will be prize money of $165,000 and the bragging rights of end-of-round champions.

Waterhouse, the defending NPL champions, should have the edge as they have the better record. They are the only team not to lose a match so far, have scored the most goals and conceded the least.

With that situation, any coach would be confident heading into the game, and Waterhouse coach Barrington Gaynor is no different. His confidence, however, is measured.

"We are confident, but we are not overconfident because we know what that can cause. We are bolstered by the fact that we are the Premier League leaders," Gaynor said ahead of this game.

What should put things further in Waterhouse's favour is the talent at their disposal. No other team in the league can afford to have the likes of national representative Garfield Reid and the most consistent scorer in the league in recent seasons, Kevin Lamey, on its bench. They also have the likes of Irvino English, Craig White and Damion Williams.

Tough going

Historically, Harbour View have found the going tough against Waterhouse and last won against them two years ago. What they could do this time around is take heart from their only meeting of the season when they came back twice to draw 2-2.

Heading into today's final, Harbour View should have some worries as their past two performances - a 1-1 draw with Boys' Town and a 4-0 hammering from Tivoli - left a lot to be desired. Coach Lenworth Hyde Sr. believes that his charges are over those results. "We are full of confidence. The Tivoli match is long gone and we have already licked our wounds," he said.

That confidence should be a bit dented by the absence of Lenworth Hyde Jr. and the tough-tackling Gregory Simpson, especially as Waterhouse are a team of fighters. Forward Fabian Taylor has returned to the side and they will be strengthened by the return of Jermaine Taylor and Oneil Smith today.