The race for second place in Zone B takes centre stage in the Jamaica Women’s Premier League (JWPL) today with second-place Vere hosting third-place Mile Gully at the Wembley Centre of Excellence, starting at 3 p.m.

Vere are on 18 points, four more than their opponents, heading into the contest and despite beating Mile Gully 8-0 in their first meeting, coach Peter Allen is quite wary of the Manchester team and the improvements they have made since then.

“I don’t think the first game was indicative of where they are. They have gotten better as you can see.

“So we are not taking them lightly. They have some experienced players and the coaching staff has been drilling some things into them. So I am looking forward to a good game,” Allen told The Gleaner.

A win for the visitors would put them one point adrift of the Clarendon side, with a game in hand and Allen has emphasised the importance of getting three points.

However, he pointed out that they are still being affected by the schoolgirls’ competition.

“We missed five starters last week due to injuries in the schoolgirls’ competition and we still haven’t got all the players in as yet due to (schoolgirls’ football) scheduling and work.

“So it is important that we get to field a good team, especially coming off the loss to Springers. But we are looking forward to getting three points,” Allen said.

Mile Gully’s manager Lorraine Cassanova said her team is very optimistic going into this game and they will give their best effort to get three points.

Like Allen, she believes this will be a much different game from their first meeting.

“In our first game against Vere, we were unfortunate but we plan to bounce back and try to capitalise on our chances as much as we can.

“We have put our plan together and we will give our best to win,” she said.

She also noted the importance of the fixture in securing second behind runaway leaders Cavalier (24 points).

“We want to secure that spot and we have worked extremely hard to put ourselves in a position to get that space.

“They are a very good team and knowing what is at stake, they will be coming very hard. But we are optimistic that we can win it at the end of the day,” she said.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com [2]

Other games:

Cavalier vs MoBay at UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence

Baptiste Alliance vs Rangers at Paul Bogle High School

Frazsiers Whip vs Springers at Royal Lakes Complex

All games kick off at 3 p.m.