Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer

THE SECOND round of the Wray and Nephew National Premier League will officially come to an end today when former champions Arnett Gardens and Village United meet at the Elliston Wakeland Centre in a rescheduled game at 3:30.

On paper, sixth-placed Arnett Gardens would be expected to be given the edge against their eighth-placed opponents despite the fact that they are playing away from home. However, on a number of occasions, even at their strongest, Arnett Gardens have faltered to Village United, so the home team should be given an equal chance of winning. What should further even the scales is the fact that Arnett Gardens have not been enjoying the best form of late, losing to Portmore United, Boys' Town and more recently Tivoli Gardens and this could affect the morale of the team.

"We are just coming off an emotional loss so we did not really train on Friday, but we had a session on Saturday morning and as I have said all along what I am trying to instill in the club is a philosophy where we take one game at a time," Glendon 'Admiral' Bailey said ahead of today's game.

For Bailey, his team being off the pace is not a major worry at this time as he did not expect the team to win this year.

rebuilding

"It is a rebuilding year. We are trying to build a framework and next year we will take it to another level. We have been doing reasonably well with that," he said. As with most teams in a rebuilding phase, steps will be taken backward as well as forward. After a self-imposed exile of about six weeks, leading NPL striker Leon Strickland is back in the fold and is available for selection, but three keys players have ruled themselves out for today's game.

"We have a policy that if you do not train on Saturday, you did not play on Sunday, so Marcelino Blackburn, Cornel Chin-Sue and Kwame Richardson will not be travelling for this game. These are key players yes, but discipline has to be maintained," Bailey said.

Those absences, the history between the clubs and possibly low morale, could provide just the atmosphere Village require to win.

"As we have said in the team meeting, these three points will determine how we do this season. If we cannot get three points off Arnett Gardens, Tivoli Gardens and Boys' Town, the teams immediately above us then our objective for the season - finishing in the top six - would not be met," said coach Fitzroy 'Johnny' Reid.

"Based on how the table is set up right now anything outside of the top six would be a bonus, but the most important thing is to focus on one game at a time and we are focusing on this one and what we need to do to win," Reid said.

Like Arnett Gardens, Village United will be without key players. Defender Troy Smith and midfielder/forward Edward Campbell are away on duty with the country's Under-20 team but Reid is not overly worried.

"Yes, those are key players, but we have adequate coverage. On the forward line we have the likes of Kristopher Stone, Newton Sterling, Luke Tait and Omar Allen to choose from. We also anticipated Smith's departure so we brought in Lacon Brissett who has played for Village before, Wadadah and Arnett Gardens in the NPL," he explained.

Goakeeper Leighton Murray, Jeff Pearce, Ian McAnuff are also expected to be key players for Village United, while veteran Kevin Wilson as well as Shane Edwards could cause problems for Arnett Gardens.