AFTER suffering defeats in their opening contests last week, Humble Lion FC and Dunbeholden FC will be seeking to rebound when they square off against Mount Pleasant FA and Waterhouse FC, respectively, on game week two of the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) powered by Digicel.

Humble Lion, who are at the foot of the 11-team standing, will lock horns with fifth-place Mount Pleasant in today’s 1:00 pm curtain-raiser, while 10th-place Dunbeholden and fourth-place Waterhouse are set to do battle in the feature contest at 3:30 pm.

This week’s games have been moved from the National Stadium to the artificial surface at the UWI (The University of the West Indies)-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence in anticipation of the heavy rainfall expected to be dumped on the island by Tropical Storm Elsa.

Having shaken off the rust in their 0-2 loss to a youthful and spirited Cavalier outfit, Andrew Price’s Humble Lion should be better off from that outing; and while they face no easier task against Mount Pleasant FA, they are expected to prove more competitive on this occasion.

Though admitting that they are some distance away from full fitness, Price took took some positives from the loss that he is hoping his Clarendon-based side can build on.

“We are going to have to play ourselves into form but I was encouraged by a lot of things that I saw. We moved the ball around well and we had a lot of good possession from which we should have made some inroads and taken some opportunities, but we didn’t do that. But it is about building the confidence of the team, continu[ing] to work hard and getting them fit – and as we continue to play we will get fitter,” Price said.

Mount Pleasant, on the other hand, would have been disappointed that they didn’t take all three points in a goalless stalemate with Tivoli Gardens and will now be hoping to make amends.

With Humble Lion showing signs of vulnerability on either side of their defence, the stacked and St Ann-situated Mount Pleasant could have a field day with the likes of Cardel Benbow and Kemar Beckford leading the attack of the Paul “Tegat” Davis-coached side.

Like Humble Lion, Dunbeholden FC will be seeking to bounce back from a 0-2 loss to neighbours Portmore United but they too will have their hands full against a tough Waterhouse unit who were held to a 1-1 scoreline by Harbour View.

In fact, it should be a keen contest between two fluent attacking teams, with either side capable of snaring all three points.

After being idle on game week one due to the UWI FC’s late withdrawal, former champions Arnett Gardens will get their campaign on the road in tomorrow’s 1:00 pm curtain-raiser against neighbours Tivoli Gardens, who currently sit seventh on a point.

Given their recent run against a menacing Mount Pleasant, Tivoli Gardens should be confident heading into the encounter and will start favourites to get in the win, with Arnett Gardens now out to get their feet wet.

Second-place Portmore United, coming off a convincing win, will be bubbling with confidence heading into their encounter against eighth-place Vere United, who were held in a goalless contest against Molynes United.

The two will lock horns in the 3:30 pm feature contest.

Meanwhile, Monday’s lone fixture will see leaders Cavalier, on three points, hunting win number two against third-place Harbour View at 1:30 pm.

Today’s games

1:00 pm: Humble Lion vs Mount Pleasant

3:30 pm: Dunbeholden FC vs Waterhouse

Tomorrow’s games

1:00 pm: Arnett Gardens vs Tivoli Gardens

3:30 pm: Portmore United vs Harbour View

Monday’s game

1:30 pm: Cavalier vs Harbour View

*All games will be played at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.