THREE non-winners — Humble Lion, St Georges Sports Club and Arnett Gardens — are still in with a chance of securing their first hold on the Flow Champions Cup.

The fourth team remaining in the all-island knockout competition, which will contest the semi-final round this Sunday, March 28 at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex, is defending champions Boys’ Town.

The Andrew Price-coached ‘Red Brigade’, which edged Village United 1-0 in quarter-final action, will square off against fellow premiership campaigners Arnett Gardens in the feature match of the double-header at 5:30 pm.

Price believes his charges are ready to beat their community rivals for the second time this season and move on to retain the coveted cup.

“I think it is even more important, as defending champions, that we defend our title and I believe that this is the time of the year that we really find our footing in the football season and we really make some strides,” Price said.

Arnett Gardens booked their spot in the last four with a 2-1 victory over Granville. Arnett are hungry for success over their Trench Town neighbours, to remain on target for a trophy in 2010. Arnett enter the match high on confidence, having shared the spoils with Boys’ Town in three previous meetings this season.

“It will boil down to who needs it most. Boys’ Town have been playing gutsy football, but we have been picking up on our goalscoring opportunities, so I think that come Sunday if we continue in our scoring vein, we’ll come out victors,” said Wayne Fairclough, who led Waterhouse to the Champions Cup trophy in 2008.

“We are going full out in order for us to really try and secure this coveted title that Arnett has never won. I will lend my experience of winning this competition to Arnett in order for us to try and nab this one,” Fairclough added.

Meanwhile, having sent previous Champions Cup winners Tivoli Gardens and Waterhouse packing, the Clarendon-based Humble Lion will be hoping for more success over St Georges at 3:00 pm.

Having beaten St Georges once and drawn another premiership encounter this season, Humble Lion’s coach Chris Bender believes his players have what it takes to stop the Portland team in order to advance to the Flow Cup final.

“Overall, the St Georges team is very good and they have shown that by beating Harbour View in the quarters… that is no mean feat. We are going in there very cautious, with the hope that we can get a positive result and come out victorious,” Bender said.

St Georges, like Humble Lion, who are seeking their first lien on the all-island knockout cup, had eliminated four-time winners and favourites Harbour View in the round of eight.

The Portlanders, who ended the match with nine players, had rallied from behind to beat the ‘Stars of the East’ 2-1 in extra time.

St Georges’ assistant coach Raymond Gordon is boiling with confidence heading into the semi-final clash.

“Having beaten Harbour View… we want to carry this to the next level because we hope to have this trophy,” he said.

The winner of the SportsMax-managed Flow Champions Cup will walk away with $800,000, $200,000 more than last season’s champions Boys’ Town. The runners-up will pocket $400,000, while the two semi-final losers will collect $200,000 each. Winners will advance to the final on April 18.

Semi-final Schedule:

Sunday, March 28, 2010

3:00 pm — St Georges vs Humble Lion at Anthony Spaulding Complex

5:30 pm — Arnett Gardens vs Boys’ Town at Anthony Spaulding Complex