AFTER an interesting regular season, the highly anticipated play-offs of the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League kick off at Sabina Park with four former champions looking to take the early advantage in the first leg of their quarter-final showdown this afternoon.

In the opening game at 5 pm, Tivoli Gardens will take on Waterhouse.

In the previous two seasons the west Kingston-based club had to watch the play-offs from the outside but Tivoli are now considered one of the favourites to win it all after their third-place finish.

Waite believes a change in mindset has contributed to the team’s success.

“When the season started no one expected much of this Tivoli team, based on their performance last year,” he said. “I came on board and took the responsibility that I’m here to transform a new generation, [and] they’ve really come out of their comfort zone and displayed some of the best football this season [so] it speaks volumes for Tivoli.”

Tivoli is the best attacking team in the league with 51 goals, talisman Justin Dunn leading the league with 16. They registered back-to-back wins against Waterhouse this season but Waite is urging them to remain focused.

“What we need to do is continue what we do best, and that is scoring goals and ensuring that we get the clean sheet also — because that’s the most important part of the game,” he said. “We always play our game but at the same time, whatever Waterhouse [will be] doing, if we need to make the tweaks to ensure we’re on top of our game then that will happen. I expect a very tough game because this is not like the first and second round — this is crunch time.”

Unlike their opponents, Waterhouse confirmed their spot during the final match week of the regular season. The Drewsland-based team were unbeaten in their last five games and clipped Montego Bay United for sixth place, giving them the final play-off berth. However, two of their seven defeats this season were against Tivoli, when they conceded four times and failed to score.

Assistant Coach Damion Gordon says he’s aware of the difficult task ahead but is calling on his team to put up a strong fight.

“We just have to get them together in terms of being focused and concentrated on what is at hand,” he said. “Our objective has to be clear and we have to be able to execute. Tivoli is a very, very difficult team to break down so we have to make sure we take our chances.”

Javane Bryan and Andre Fletcher have combined for 25 goals this season, but they’ve carried the load of the burden as the rest of the squad have combined for just 13 goals over the 26 games.

Gordon wants his team to be more efficient against one of the league’s toughest defences.

“I think we have a good crop of players, it’s just for everyone to realise what is at stake so we can move in one accord,” he said. “What has been hampering us of late is taking our chances, so we just have to fix that. We have quality players as well.

“It’s a play-off over two legs so hopefully we’re able to manage those two legs; we just have to make sure we command the game. Tivoli is a very difficult team but on any given day Waterhouse is a monster as well, in terms of our game, so we just have to play our game.”

In the second game, at 7:30 pm, fourth-placed Portmore United battles Arnett Gardens.

Both teams finished on 49 points in the regular season but Portmore finished with a better goal difference. They also went unbeaten against the “Junglists” this season, winning their first encounter 2-0 then holding them to a 1-1 draw in March. Portmore, who lost only three games, also has the second-best defensive record this season, conceding 16 goals.

However, Arnett Gardens Head Coach Xavier Gilbert says his team can make the breakthrough this time around.

“We’ve taken positives from both games [against Portmore], even the game we lost,” he said. “I thought if we had played the first half like how we played the second half in those games, the result would have been different. I thought we had some good periods and good moments but we have to be more potent in front of goal and we have to stop them from scoring. They scored in both games against us and we’re mindful of that so we have to stop them from playing.”

Captain Fabian Reid, with 10 goals this season, along with rising sensation Kaheim Dixon and Jaheim Thomas, will look to break down Portmore’s backline.

However, Gilbert is hoping that his best 11 will be fully fit and ready for the contest.

“We’ve had some niggling injuries but, nevertheless, we have to go out and execute,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough encounter [but] we just have to prepare both physically and mentally, which the coaching staff has done over the last few weeks.”