Arnett want to keep momentum
Published:Sunday | December 31, 2023 | 12:12 AMLivingston Scott - Gleaner Writer
FRESH FROM their morale-boosting 2-0 win over league leaders Mount Pleasant in a top-of-the-table Jamaica Premier League (JPL) clash on Wednesday, third-place Arnett Gardens will hunt another important scalp Sunday when they play away to fourth-place Portmore United at Ferdie Neita Park.
The ‘Junglists’ are third in the JPL standings, on 21 points, the same as second-place Tivoli Gardens, and fourth-place Portmore, and just a point behind leaders Mount Pleasant.
Although the win over Mount Pleasant was a huge morale booster for coach Xavier Gilbert on Wednesday, he said his team would not get carried away with that victory, as there are many games remaining.
“The win is definitely a boost. We also have a game in hand. But the real thing is to stay focused,” he said. “This win will build confidence but you cannot get overconfident. We still have to manage things. There are more games coming.
“So, we celebrate the win, get back to the training pitch and we are ready for business on Sunday,” he told The Gleaner.
After the departure of previous coach Paul ‘Tegat’ Davis, assistant Eric Rademakers, and a number of key players, many were predicting doom and gloom for the Junglists.
SIX WINS
However, Gilbert known for his success with women’s football, has kept the former champions competitive this season with six wins and three draws from 10 games.
“We have our plan. We have our strategy and it’s working for us. So we have our plan and, for the most part, we are executing,” he added.
However, they will be up against a Portmore team that seems to be running back into form once again.
The Phillip Williams-coached team shrugged off their opening-day defeat to Mount Pleasant and went on a three-match winning run.
However, they hit a rut of four games without a win, including one defeat.
But, in their last three matches, the St Catherine team have not dropped a point, and their 10 points from the last four games have seen them climb to fourth.
The return of target man Chevaughn Walsh, who was struggling with injury at the start of the season, is also a massive boost for the former winners and will give them added attacking impetus.
However, with Tivoli set to play Lime Hall and favoured to get three points, this game could determine who occupies third, fourth and fifth at the end of the round, with Dunbeholden lurking close by on 18 points.
At the Anthony Spaulding Complex, fifth-placed Dunbeholden take on seventh-placed Cavalier (on 15 points). Cavalier are eager to make up ground on the front-runners.
Cavalier have had their ups and downs thus far, however, their last game was a win over Treasure Beach and they are just three points adrift of their opponents.
Victory today would put them right back into the thick of things, but, as coach Rudolph Speid put it, he never knows which Cavalier will turn up on the day.
Dunbeholden went four matches without a goal at the start of the season. However, the team and striker Nicholas Nelson have been finding their form of late.
Nelson’s six goals in six matches have pushed the Lenworth Hyde-coached team into the top half of the table and, with his schoolboy players now available, Hyde will be expecting his team to be even stronger.