'It's not yet over’

As the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) preliminary stage draws to a close with the penultimate round of matches this afternoon, the race for the last two play-off spots and the battle against relegation take centre stage.

Montego Bay United (71 points), Mount Pleasant (68), Portmore United (62), and Waterhouse (59) have already secured their play-off places.

Racing United (56), only need a point from their last two matches, while Cavalier (55), Arnett (52) and Chapelton (48), with the slimmest of mathematical chances, all need to win to keep their hopes alive going into Wednesday’s final round of matches.

Although needing just a single point to ensure their first-ever play-off qualification, Racing have not shown the kind of form in recent weeks to boost confidence going into their penultimate game against Portmore.

Though Racing have registered the most draws in this season's campaign (17), they will have to go all out in order to get a result against a Portmore team with only one loss in their last six matches.

"The players are still lagging behind in terms of the intensity with which they play," commented Racing assistant coach Marvin Tate. 

"Hopefully, we will have our full complement of players for the last two games, and those players should actually take us up to the top six. So, let's see what happens from here."

Defending JPL champions, Cavalier, find themselves in the most precarious position of the top-six challengers, as even a win against Tivoli today will not assure them a place in the play-offs.

A win would strengthen Cavalier's position to qualify, but an Arnett win over Spanish Town Police would delay that possibility until the last match day.

However, defeat for the defending champions would open up the door for Arnett going into the last match.

"We need to maintain what we are doing and, as long as we stay on this path, we should be okay in the top six," insists Cavalier assistant coach David Laylor.

Chapelton, who have a very minute chance of making the top six, face a tough Waterhouse team and they will be hoping Arnett and Cavalier lose their last two matches and they win both their games. 

They will also have to score in the region of 18-20 goals over the two games to usurp one of the two teams.

At the other end of the spectrum, Treasure Beach (40), Molynes (39) and Harbour View (36) are locked in a three-way battle to avoid joining Spanish Town Police for demotion.

Of the three teams, Treasure Beach will have the most difficult task this weekend against league leaders Montego Bay.

However, even a defeat for Treasure Beach would not sink them into the relegation zone, as they would still be a point above Harbour View, even if the latter won.

However, the game of the day will be the six-pointer between direct rivals Molynes and Harbour View at Constant Spring.

A win for Molynes and defeat for Harbour View would secure Molynes’ place in the league next season and seal Harbour View's fate to lower-tier football next term.

"We have two games to go and we are on 39 points," pointed out Molynes coach Jermaine Thomas.

"We are still competing. It's not yet over. It's going to be very interesting. They (Harbour View) had a good win against Montego Bay, so confidence level should be beaming. We just want to be as a cautious as possible and do what we have to," he said.

Harbour View are four points behind Treasure Beach and three adrift of Molynes, and cannot afford to drop any points in their last two games if they want to maintain their 30-odd year stay in the top flight.

Molynes are the most in-form team in the league with four straight wins, but Harbour View have two of the three most lethal scorers in the league in Trayvone Reid (20) and Rohan Brown (17).

However, if they are to get the desired result from this game, then the outstanding player of the league this season, Reid, will have to step up and produce another big performance for the Stars of the East.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com 

Today’s Games 

Waterhouse vs Chapelton at Waterhouse Stadium 

Racing vs Portmore United at Ferdi Neita Park 

Dunbeholden vs Mount Pleasant at Dunbeholden Sports 

MoBay vs Treasure Beach at Jarrett Park 

Tivoli vs Cavalier at Edward Seaga Complex 

Molynes vs Harbour View at Constant Spring Complex 

Arnett vs Spanish Town Police at Anthony Spaulding Complex

All games begin at 3:30 p.m.*