Jamaica Premier League (JPL) leaders Montego Bay United will have their place at the top of the league seriously tested once again when they entertain third-place Portmore United at Jarrett Park today, starting at 3 p.m.
In other games, Spanish Town Police play Chapelton at Royal Lakes Complex and Racing take on Dunbeholden at Ferdi Neita Park. Both start at 3 p.m.
Portmore (30 points) were the first team to get a win over the then high-flying MoBay in the first round. However, coach of the hosts, Xavier Gilbert, pointed out that while the St Catherine team are not easy to play against, his team learned a lot from their last meeting and are looking to turn the tables this afternoon.
“It is going to be a tough encounter. They gave us our first loss of the season and we are mindful of that. They are a very stubborn unit. They are a very good unit defensively. They can be very mean.
“They were very disciplined in defence. We took some time to break them down. It was very difficult for us to break them down. So we are mindful of that and them hitting on the counter.
“We are cognisant of the type of tactics they might come up with and, hopefully, we can curtail those things we think they are going to come up with. We just have to be positive, stay on the front foot and see if we can get maximum points,” he said.
It took MoBay three matches to win their first game at Jarrett Park. Nevertheless, Gilbert said they have gotten better each game, playing at the venue, and said if they can remain consistent, the results will continue to come.
“We have gotten better game by game. That’s the most important thing, and, once we stay consistent and continue to get better, the results are going to fall in our favour.
“That’s what happened last time we played at Jarrett Park and, hopefully, we continue to grow and get better,” he added.
He noted that they have added explosive former Arnett Gardens winger Kimani Arbouine to their roster, and he could play a part in today’s match.
“Kimani Arbouine, he is in and he might be in the squad,” he disclosed.
Portmore United scored their first win in six matches with a 4-0 result over Spanish Town Police in midweek. Assistant coach Ricardo Smith believes they are now over their bad patch.
“We are just not putting the ball in the net. We are creating chances. Dunbeholden came and we got a lot of chances and didn’t score. Against Mount Pleasant, we got a few and didn’t score. We went to Tivoli, got two and gave up two. It’s just a bad patch. The Christmas period usually dents preparation but we won (last game) and we are thankful for that,” he stated
Since losing back-to-back games against Mount Pleasant and Treasure Beach, Portmore have continued to show their strength in defence, with three clean sheets in their last four, despite just one win.
“They [MoBay] are the league leaders. We are five points behind them. They won (last game). So we have to look to cut down the lead to two points, if we can beat them. So we are looking forward to it,” said Smith.
Meanwhile, two of the five scheduled matches for Sunday have been postponed. Treasure Beach versus Cavalier and Mount Pleasant against Harbour View.
livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com
Today’s Games
Spanish Town Police vs Chapelton at Royal Lakes Complex – 3 p.m.
MoBay vs Portmore at Jarrett Park – 3 p.m.
Racing vs Dunbeholden at Ferdi Neita Park – 3 p.m.
Treasure Beach vs Cavalier (postponed)
Mount Pleasant vs Harbour View (postponed)
