Having announced themselves to the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) with a stunning victory over champions Montego Bay United, Maverley/Hughenden hunt another top scalp when they host Portmore United at the Constant Spring Field starting at 3:30 pm today.

In the other games at 3:30 pm: Tivoli Gardens welcome Montego Bay United; Arnett Gardens tackle Waterhouse; Boys’ Town take on Harbour View and Jamalco play the University of the West Indies (UWI). In the only 3:00 pm game, Humble Lion travel to Reno.

Maverley/Hughenden, who made a return to top-flight football for the first time since the 1992/93 season, are bubbling with confidence following their giant killing act on the champions, and the Lijyasu Simms-coached outfit will be seeking their second upset victory.

“No team has ever come from the so called ‘bush’ league and beaten the champions and the finalist. So that is a aim we have set ourselves and we are working assiduously towards it,” said Simms, at the RSPL press briefing on Thursday at Spanish Town Road.

Maverley/Hughenden, who were one of the busiest teams in the transfer window, have strengthened significantly, hence their immediate impact.

“As you can see Sunday, the new players played a vital role and they have come in and blended well with the team, and the system and the players and community have accepted them and it will be a joy going forward,” he noted.

“These players are experienced and they have done the journey; they brought a lot to our team and it only can help us going forward,” he added.

“Going up against Portmore, we know it’s not going to be easy. They are a quality team that play quality football, and we expect to go there and play good football and get a positive result,” said Simms, who is also the coach of Calabar High School.

Last season’s runners-up Portmore United will also be aiming for their second — consecutive victory, having toppled the promoted Jamalco, and head coach Linval Dixon expects a tough encounter against Maverley.

“First, I want to say big up to Maverley. MoBay United will always say they always have a late start. But I must give credit to Maverley and I expect a tough game. We are not going to take them lightly and I know they are going to come at us. So it is just to see how best we can perform on that day,” said Dixon.

“We expect a tough game, we want a good game. Earlier it was mentioned about the game being physical. Of course the game will be physical at times, but we still want our players to maintain a certain level of discipline going forward. We want to maintain our discipline throughout on the field and off the field, and that is what it is about,” he added.

Meanwhile, early leaders Tivoli Gardens welcome the wounded champions Montego Bay United to the Edward Seaga Sports Complex fresh from their 3-0 demolition of Harbour View last week.

Veteran Jermaine ‘Teddy’ Johnson, who started the season with a two-goal bang, will once again lead this Tivoli Gardens’ attack as they hunt their second- consecutive win to maintain their perfect start.

But Montego Bay United won’t be any pushovers and still smarting from their embarrassing 1-2 defeat to new boys Maverley/Hughenden, the St James standard-bearers will be hell-bent on kick-starting their season, and despite playing at home, Tivoli Gardens will be in for a rough day.

Second-placed Humble Lion travel to Frome to play seventh-placed Reno FC and are heavily fancied to secure three valuable away points against a home team that seems like they are destined to struggle this season once again. Humble Lion scored a good 2-0 win over Boys’ Town last Sunday and should have little difficulty securing win number two on the trot.

Lenworth Williams, assistant coach of Humble Lion, said they don’t know what Reno will be bringing this year, but their system is good enough all over the park to withstand anything.

“We rely on what we are doing; we have confidence in what we are doing and it is a result-oriented sport so we are going out to Reno to get three points,” said Williams.

But having not won at Frome before, Williams is expecting to change that come today. “This year we are hoping to correct all that we did wrong last year, so we brought in a few players, we have the best coach in the island and the best coaching staff, and so the preparation is great and we are going all out this year.”

Reno will also be hunting three points following their 0-0 stalemate with Arnett Gardens and team manager Oral Gunning is expecting the Westmoreland team to kick-start their season with a victory at home.

“I am very sure that we will be going for three points this weekend. I wouldn’t want to use the no- goal result last week to compare what is to come this Sunday, because in anything that you do, sometimes these players are very tense at the beginning. But the team is in training; we have our minds focused on an all-out attack and we will be going for goals and three points this Sunday,” said Gunning.

Former champions Arnett Gardens play their second home game away from home because of a two-match ban on the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex, and will take on fierce rivals Waterhouse FC at Drax Hall in St Ann.

Arnett Gardens in their opening match could not break down Reno, despite creating several goalscoring chances, and will be hoping to get it right this time around. Waterhouse, having survived relegation last season on the final day, remain a team in transition with a lot of young players and if they are not careful, could suffer at the hands of an Arnett Gardens that laden with talent.

Last season’s surprised team, the UWI FC got off to a winning start last week against Waterhouse and travel to the Wembley Centre of Excellence in Clarendon to play promoted Jamalco in their first home match in their history in the premier league at 3:30 pm.

UWI, who finished fifth last season and just missed a semi-final spot in their first season of top flight football, will have to be at the best against a Jamalco team eager to secure that historic first premier league win. UWI’s head coach Marcel Gayle, is wary of the Jamalco threat.

“I saw them (Jamalco) on the TV and I know coming into the competition at home, the pressure is going to be against them and they went on the road and had a loss. So I am expecting a bumper crowd, but we are going to go down there and expect a gruelling encounter. But if we stay disciplined and play to our best, then we can get a positive result and we are looking forward to positive results on the road,” said Gayle.

Meanwhile both Boys’ Town and Harbour View clash at Barbican Complex, seeking to recover from their opening day defeats. Both are at the bottom of the league after suffering 0-2 and 0-3 defeats to Humble Lion and Tivoli Gardens, respectively.

Today’s games

3:30 pm Maverley/Hughenden FC vs Portmore United FC @ Constant Spring

3:00 pm FC Reno vs Humble Lion FC @ Frome Complex

3:30 pm Tivoli Gardens FC vs Montego Bay United FC @ Edward Seaga

3:30 pm Arnett Gardens FC vs Waterhouse FC @ Drax Hall Sports Complex

3:30 pm Boys’ Town FC vs Harbour View FC @ Barbican Sports Complex

3:30 pm Jamalco FC vs UWI FC @ Wembley Centre of Excellence