Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

Former top-flight representatives August Town and Santos will lock horns at the UWI Bowl, when the Western Union KSAFA Jackie Bell Knockout competition gets under way at 3:30 p.m. today.

Relegated last season, August Town are determined to make their way back to the top flight and will be keen to see just how far they have reached in their first major test of this season.

"This is the first real game for the season, but we have been training two months and we have had some solid results against some Super and Premier League teams, so we are in good shape," said August Towns manager, Marlon Small.

"It's a while since we faced them, but in the last Super League season, we beat them twice. We have lost five players but we still have a pretty good core of players and I am confident we can win today's game."

Although absence from the top-flight has been considerably longer for five-time national league champions Santos, they will also be looking for a good start to the knockout competition ahead of what is expected to be a competitive season in the KSAFA Super League.

Good showing

"We never expected to be playing a game this early so we arent quite 100 per cent. But, I think they are probably in the same position, so no one has an advantage," said Santos coach, Carlton Dennis. "We know what they have to offer, we have a lot of respect for them, but I think we perform better against the teams in the higher leagues. So, we expect to go out there and put up a good showing."

In other games, Whitfield Town will play Woodford at St Andrew Technical High School, Stony Hill face Shortwood at Golden Spring Community Centre, while University of Technology (UTech) face New Kingston at UTech.

With title sponsors Western Union on board for a fifth consecutive year, the competition was officially launched on Thursday.

For the first time in its history, a television deal will see selected games broadcast delayed on the TVJ sports network.

Harbour View are the defending champions. However, they will not take part in the competition until the fifth round. Identical to last year, this years first place team will receive $350,000, the runners-up $200,000 and the third place team $100,000.