BY HOWARD WALKER

Observer staff reporter

walkerh@jamaicaobserver.com

PORTMORE United will have to do without captain and influential defender Adrian Reid when they tackle Tivoli Gardens in the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) First End-of-Round final at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex today at

7:00 pm.

Reggae Boy Reid will miss out after an accumulation of cards and will be joined by Tivoli Gardens’ midfielder Jameel Thompson on the sidelines, also out on cards.

But of the two teams, Portmore United will be hurting the most with the absence of Reid in the heart of their young but aggressive back four.

The winner of today’s contest will walk away with $250,000 and the loser pocketing $150,000 for the incentive final for the top-two teams after the end of the

first round set of games. Of

note, no points will be offered for this game.

Tivoli Gardens finished on top after 11 games with 19 points, just one ahead of Portmore United on 18 with a host of teams just two points adrift on 16 points in a closely-knit table.

The Glendon ‘Admiral’ Bailey-coached Tivoli Gardens remain the only unbeaten team in the league, inclusive of four wins and seven draws.

Incidentally, they have not won in their last five games, with their last victory coming on October 19 when they edged none other than

Portmore United 1-0 at the Edward Seaga Stadium.

Raymond Williamson scored then and he will once again be in the heart of the Tivoli Gardens midfield trying to nullify

his more younger and

faster opponents.

The orange-and-black-clad team from West Kingston will be depending largely on their strike force of Micthily Waul, the leading goalscorer with four goals, the ever-dangerous Navion Boyd, Marcelino Blackburn and Devon Hodges to secure victory.

Portmore United crashed to a surprise 0-2 defeat to bottom team Village United last week and will be looking to rebound in style.

Portmore United have warmed up in style by scoring 20 goals in two games in their parish knockout tournament, the last being a 12-0 whipping of

Ensom City.

Veteran goal poacher Roen Nelson scored six of those goals and could play a crucial role if Portmore are to get the better of Tivoli Gardens.

The likes of joint leading goalscorer Alanzo Adlam with four goals, Tremaine Stewart, Andrew Vanzie, Ewan Grandison, Adoah Nickles, John Ross Doyle will provide the forward thrust for victory.

With games hard to win in the premier league, in which only six points separate 10th-placed Arnett Gardens on 13 points from top team Tivoli Gardens

on 19, another close encounter is in store.

The team that makes the least mistakes should win, and Tivoli Gardens led by their veteran defender Kasai Hinds, don’t make many and should be

given the edge to lift yet

another trophy.

But the Calvin Lewis-coached Portmore United are a young and hard-running aggregation and could cause some serious problems setting the stage for a very good show down.