St George's target maiden berth in final

Saturday, November 21, 2009 8:31 PM

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Sport

by Livingston Scott Observer staff reporter

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Portland's St George's Sport Club can qualify for an end-of-round final for the first time in their history, when they play Village United in their final Digicel Premier League first-round match at Lynch Park this afternoon at 3:00.

However, victory is a must to ensure they join Tivoli Gardens in the first end-of-round showpiece as a win for Harbour View (19 points) against Arnett Gardens in their 6:pm match at Tony Spaulding Complex could see the 'Stars of the East' grabbing the remaining spot if St George's (21 points) draw or lose.

In other games, it's Portmore United vs Tivoli Gardens at Ferdie Neita Park at 5:00 pm; Boys' Town vs Waterhouse at Collie Smith Sport Complex at 3:00 pm; Rivoli vs Sporting Central at Prison Oval at 6:00 pm and August Town take vs Humble Lion at UWI Bowl at 3:00 pm.

St George's surprised many when they went to Portmore last Sunday and came away with maximum points.

The Portlanders, under coach Braxton Hyre, have a much improved form on the road this season, compared to previous ones.

That, along with their impressive home record, has given them the leverage to contest an end-of-round berth for the first time.

However, Hyre contends that although the round final would be a great achievement for the club, his objective is winning the entire league.

Harbour View's Donovan Hayles expressed similar sentiments ahead of their clash with Arnett.

"We're not approaching this game with the aim of putting us in the end-of-round final; we're approaching the game in the sense of what it does to us in the competition," Hayles pointed out.

"... The bigger picture for us is to win the Premier League, and these three points will keep us intact and on track for winning... but if it puts us in the end-of-round final it would be a great joy for us," he said.

Hayles said it was heartening to score more than one goal for the first time this season, and is hoping their good fortune can continue against today's opponents.

"They (Arnett) are hard to predict; they might be hot today and tomorrow they're not... but it doesn't take much to motivate players for these games so I'm looking forward to a great show because it's a Harbour View-Arnett Gardens match-up...," Hayles said.

At the Ferdie Neita Complex, hosts Portmore United, who have only won once in eight games, have a daunting task as they try to recover from their 0-1 defeat to St George's.

Th St Catherine side has found goals difficult to come by this season and has scored only seven times in their 10 matches.

They will come up against the league's most lethal attack, which has produced 22 goals already this season.

At Collie Smith, home team Boys' Town, fresh from their first back-to-back win of the season, seek a third straight victory against the improving Waterhouse.

The Geoffrey Maxwell-coach Waterhouse started out with five consecutive loses but have recovered to score four wins in five games.

They look to be growing from strength to strength and will hope they can take advantage of the inconsistency of the Red Brigade.

After beating Portmore and playing to a 3-3 away draw with Tivoli in their last two outings, Rivoli are tipped to take full points against a Sporting Central team which has lost its last five matches.

At UWI, Humble Lion and August Town will square-off in a bottom-of-the-table fixture.

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