BY SANJAY MYERS

Observer staff reporter

myerss@jamaicaobserver.com

HARBOUR View FC will be looking to ramp up fan support ahead of their hosting of games in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championship by moving today’s Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) home fixture several miles away to the neighbouring parish of St Thomas.

Visitors August Town FC will be Harbour View’s opponents in the match scheduled to begin at 3:30 pm at the York Oval, near Seaforth.

A number of clubs that have been assigned home games have made similar shifts in a move aimed at spreading top-flight football to various corners of the parish, and also to maximise on gate receipts.

The hosts will also give their much-used home stadium at the Compound a rest after last week’s bruising encounter, with Waterhouse FC, in soggy conditions left the surface in a less than ideal condition.

But Harbour View, the RSPL title-holders who lead the preliminary standing with 37 points from 21 games, have added another dimension by seeking to take football to followers in St Thomas and hopefully win their backing when the CFU tournament rolls around next month.

And they will surely need all the support they can get after a barren spell has allowed a previously comfortable lead to be whittled down to virtually nothing.

They now edge second-placed Waterhouse on goal difference, while third-placed Montego Bay United are only a point behind on 36.

August Town, last in the 12-team standing on 21 points, will see this as a good opportunity to start a rise out of the relegation zone, but with a toothless attack that has mustered only 14 goals so far, it would be a huge surprise if they were to pull off a victory.

Fans in Santa Cruz and its environs will also be treated to RSPL action this weekend when Trench Town rivals Arnett Gardens FC and Boys’ Town FC meet at the St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), beginning at 3:00 pm.

The teams, which are usually closely matched, are at opposite ends of the table. Arnett Gardens are currently in fourth place with 31 points, while Boys’ Town are ninth with 25.

At Wespow Park in St James, the hosts Montego Bay United, who beat Harbour View 3-0 in the previous round to end a string of drawn games, can expect a tight challenge when they come up against fifth-placed Cavalier SC (28) points.

In another 3:00 pm kick-off, Sporting Central Academy, in seventh place on 27 points, welcome a confident Waterhouse unit to the Juici Patties Park in Clarendon.

In tomorrow’s televised encounter, sixth-placed Tivoli Gardens (27 points), the designated home team, make the short trek to the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex in Arnett Gardens to face 11th-placed Rivoli United (24).

Two teams — 10th-placed Portmore United (25 points) and eighth-placed Humble Lion (26) — will not feature in the RSPL today.

They faced each other in a drawn encounter over a week ago in a game brought forward to allow Portmore the opportunity to honour an invitation from MLS club Portland Timbers to take part in the Rose City Invitational tournament in the United States.

RSPL games today

3:00 pm – Boys’ Town vs Arnett Gardens @ STETHS

3:00 pm – Montego Bay vs Cavalier @ Wespow Park

3:00 pm – Sporting Central vs Waterhouse @ Juice Patties Park

3:30 pm – Harbour View vs August Town @ York Oval

RSPL games tomorrow

8:30 pm Tivoli Gardens vs Rivoli United @ Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex