file -Roen Nelson

by Ainsley Walters, Freelance Writer

PORTMORE UNITED went to Tivoli Gardens last Sunday and left as Cash Plus Premier League leaders after slamming their hosts 4-2, a loss which had home fans scrambling from the stands after Roen Nelson booted in his fourth goal of the match.

Coach Linval Dixon afterwards declared his team, which were missing seven starters, the best in the league.

Portmore, who lead Tivoli by a point atop the standings, are out to strengthen their claim tomorrow afternoon when they face promoted sixth-place team, St. Georges of Portland, burning to avenge a 3-1 second-round loss at Lynch Park.

St. Georges, level on 34 points with Seba United, are sixth on goal difference, hanging on to the borderline spot, below which teams will not be eligible to vie for the title in the fourth and final round.

Both teams have everything to play for approaching the half-way stage of the third round. Portmore have a fragile lead and St. Georges an even more shaky hold on sixth place.

"When you looked at how we played at St. Georges the last time, we got a fair number of chances to win," Dixon told STAR Sports yesterday.

"I know they're coming to play a Portmore team, which everybody was saying had lost eight players to Brazil but, as we demonstrated, we're no pushovers," Dixon added, referring to Sunday's match, which his team, missing seven starters away on a national camp in Brazil, took apart Tivoli and led 4-1 until the final minute.

seasoned teams

St. Georges snapped a two-match losing run with a 1-1 draw at August Town last Sunday to regain sixth place, but are far from comfortable with seasoned teams such as seventh-place Seba (34), Arnett Gardens (30) and Village United (29) all aiming to climb into the top-six.

The Portlanders are no joke, having notched their fair share of upsets including a 2-0 win over defending champions Harbour View at Compound.

However, they will have to keep Nelson on a leash as the Premiership's goalscoring record-holder's four-timer at Tivoli was no run-of-the-mill shooting but instead sweetly-timed volleys and well-placed shots, which would've taken out the best on any given day.

Should Nelson and his fellow attackers fail to fire. It's not beyond St. Georges to pull off an upset as strikers Brian Wolderston and Denroy Dennis have caught the pace of the league and are twin dangers to any defence especially Portmore's, which at times looks shaky when rival teams attack in numbers.

Richardo Watson, St. Georges' super-sub could change the game for his team if called on by coach Donovan Duckie to wreak havoc with his mazy dribbles in the final 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, second-place Tivoli Gardens, who will play Arnett Gardens at the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex, could not have asked for a tougher match-up following Sunday's loss to Portmore.

Arnett, who battled to a 0-0 draw with third-place Boys' Town on Wednesday, are eighth on 30 points.

Boys' Town did a good job of shutting down Onandi Lowe at Collie Smith Drive and if Tivoli doesn't follow suit the former national striker could bully his way into their 18-yard box, from where his shots will be unstoppable.

Tivoli's back line could hardly be faulted for Sunday's loss due to the brilliance of Nelson's goals, but they will have to be really sharp against Lowe, Fabian Davis and Andre Thomas, who impressed against Boys' Town on Wednesday.

Waterhouse, struggling to keep up with the leaders, remain third on goal difference, locked on 39 points with Boys' Town.

The men from Drewsland face Sporting Central away, having not won in six games, drawing four of their last five including giving up a two-goal lead at home against Reno last Sunday.

Promoted Sporting Central continue to play as if they're still in the confederation leagues, brilliant today and dull tomorrow, slammed 3-0 by Harbour View last week after taking out Reno 5-2 in their previous match.

Waterhouse may be off song but are tipped to get the better of the 10th place homesters, who are just two off the relegation zone.

Boys' Town, who share 39 points with Waterhouse but remain fourth on goal difference after George Vernal failed to put away Arnett on Wednesday, are on a dangerous trip to next-to-last Reno, another of the league's here-today-gone-tomorrow teams.

Reno have not won in seven games but are energised at home and could give Boys' Town a run for their money.

Defending champions Harbour View, fifth on 37 points, should put away August Town at the UWI Bowl and have a real shot at jumping to third, depending on the outcome of Waterhouse and Boys' Town's away games.

Seba continue to hold their own in mid-table and will feature in an epic Jarrett Park clash with rising stars, ninth-place Village United, who, along with Boys' Town, are joint third round leaders, clawing their way from the bottom of the standings to share 29 points with Sporting Central.