IF you are a Portmore United supporter, then the latest report coming out of the St Catherine FA Major League makes for good reading.

Relegated from the top flight last season, the former National Premier League champions are exactly where they’d hope to be after 11 games into the season: at the front of the queue with ample space between them and the chasing pack.

Having crowned the first half of their campaign with the mid-season gong, Linval Dixon’s side are now en route to the semi-finals, where they are expected to be pitted against the theoretically weaker team in the top four. Their latest victory, a 4-0 thumping of Royal Lakes, puts them on 31 points, nine clear of second-placed Tru-Juice, who lost ground at the weekend following a 0-0 draw with Portsmouth.

Where the league table is concerned, one drawn game represents the only blot on their report card. Ten wins, no defeat, 27 goals for and five against place them at the top of the Honours Class. And even their disciplinary record shows some degree of superiority. Portmore are one of only three teams, the others being Spanish Town Police and Tru-Juice, who are yet to receive a red card with only two games left in the prelims. For lesser violations, they are averaging only 1.2 yellow cards per game.

In terms of silverware, their only setbacks thus far came in knockout competitions, losing to Montego Bay United on penalties in the semi-finals of the Flow Champions Cup, before being dumped out of the parish equivalent at the same stage by eventual champions Rivoli United.

“It is not easy to play at this level,” said Dixon, following their 1-0 victory over Tru-Juice in last month’s mid-season final. “We’ve lost a lot of players, but at the moment we are where we want to be. The youngsters have really stepped up and are working hard to get us back to where we belong.”

Presently, the teams who are looking to join Portmore in the semi-finals are Tru-Juice (22 points), Newlands (18), Christian Pen (17), Frazsiers Whip (17) and GC Foster (16).

Should they get past this stage, their first real test will be the South Central Confederation Super Eight play-offs. In this competition, a shortened version of the traditional Super League, Portmore will face teams from Clarendon, Manchester and St Elizabeth, who are all looking to secure one spot in the National Premier League play-offs.

Meanwhile, in Division One, the teams who are favoured to gain promotion to the Major League are Dunbeholden and Federal United, the same sides who contested the mid-season final earlier in the season. Then, only goal difference separated them. Now, technically, only the number of games played is keeping them apart. Having played one match more than Federal, mid-season champions Dunbeholden (24) are three points clear at the top, with seven wins and three draws.

The other contenders for a semi-final berth are Bodles (20), Watson Grove (20), Windsor Lion (18) and, mathematically, Travellers (14).