Humble Lion, struggling Portmore hungry for three points

HUMBLE LION will be hunting back-to-back victories in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) for the first time this season, when they take on Portmore United at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence starting at 3 p.m.

Humble Lion coach, Andrew Price, believes they are ripe for a second successive win and will be approaching the game with three points at the forefront of their minds.

“I think we have a good platform with the resilience that the team showed last week against the defending champions [Cavalier] to get three points, and we played for an extended period of time with 10 men.

“So we are definitely taking that foundation into this game and treat it like a must-win game,” he said.

“We have aspirations of pushing our way into the play-offs and the only way we can do that is by maximising points along the way.

“They are ahead of us and we want to get by them and the only way to get past them is to get three points.

POSITIVE MINDSET

“We are going there hunting maximum points, so we have to go into the match with a positive mindset, to work hard and execute and try to get three points.”

Portmore haven’t tasted a win in four matches, and although Price sees this as a great opportunity to get three points, he will not underestimate the former champions.

“They haven’t been playing well but they have good players and a good coach. So we are not going to go there with any amount of complacency.

“They are a quality team and we have to bring our A-game and keep it at the standard that we have been maintaining for the last three weeks.

“We have done well against some of the top teams, and with some consistency in front of goal and if we continue to keep clean sheets, we can get a positive result,” he said.

Portmore coach, Lenworth Hyde, said it has been a tough month for his team, who slipped one place to eighth, and though he anticipates that it will get even tougher, with the absence of keys players, he remains hopeful.

“Things will gets even tougher for us because we have some injuries. Keni Charleston could be out. He is doubtful.

“Emelio Rosseau is still out. He did not play the last game. But it gives us another chance to use the youngsters.

“They are in the same position as us. They are very low in the table and desperate for points. It will be a tough game and we want to win the game because we are still trying to get into the top six.

“If we win this game, it will set us good for the next game and we can take it from there, but we definitely want to win the match and get closer to the top six,” he said.

Portmore, with 16 points, are eighth in the table, two ahead of Humble Lion in ninth.

In other games, Vere entertain Arnett at Wembley Centre of Excellence at 3 p.m., while at Drax Hall, Tivoli play MoBay at 1 p.m. and Mount Pleasant and Dunbeholden meet in the feature match at 3 p.m.

On Monday, Molynes United play against Waterhouse at 5 p.m. and Harbour View face Cavalier at 7:30 p.m.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com

Today’s Games

Game Venue Time

Humble Lion vs Portmore UWI-JFF CHBCE 3 p.m.

Vere vs Arnett WCOE 3 p.m. Tivoli vs MoBay Utd Drax Hall 1 p.m.

Mount Pleasant vs Dunbeholden Drax Hall 3 p.m.

Tomorrow’s Games

Game Venue Time

Molynes United vs Waterhouse Tony Spaulding 5 p.m.

Harbour View vs Cavalier Tony Spaulding 7:30 p.m.