PLAYING for pole position!
It will be a battle to secure the top spots in Group B in the LIME Pelican Football Challenge at the National Stadium tonight.
Unbeaten teams Scotty’s Combined Stars and Barbados Steel Works Top Bay Settlers, both on five points, clash at 7 p.m. while Conquerors, also on five points, oppose Direct TV Red Snappers with four points at 9 p.m. in a match which has been brought forward from Sunday.
Once again the speedy and skilful Tristan Parris will lead Combined Stars’ attack, but he badly needs support. With Sheldon White injuring his arm in the last outing, Jeremy Bradshaw could be brought into the starting line-up for the Stars, especially since the Settlers’ defence looked fairly suspect in their 2-2 draw with Higher Learning.
Soft goal
Goalkeeper Kareem Farrell and the Stars’ defence with Alvin ‘Gate Man’ Holder, Curtis Blackman, Alex Belgrave and Ryan James have let in just that one soft goal in the first of their three matches.
But it will get a test from Mustafa Haqq, Ryan ‘Shaky’ Griffith, Curtis Odle and Gregory ‘Lalu’ Goodridge as Arantes Lawrence has ruled himself out by picking up yellow cards in all three games.
Should coach-player Kent Hall suit up for Top Bay, he could have a riveting midfield battle with Malcolm ‘Buju’ Marshall.
But Hall is likely to keep faith with the steady Cody Mark, alongside Nicholas ‘Alan’ King while Trevor ‘Taz’ Mayers is also a solid option.
The night-capper will see Conquerors’ exciting strike partners Dwayne Mars and Diquan Adamson trying to get past Red Snappers’ sweeper Jason Carter and score against impressive goalkeeper Richard Corbin.
At the other end, Kenroy Skinner, if he starts, will be hoping to rediscover his goalscoring form against wily former Barbados captains Wayne Sobers and John Parris.
A rare treat for the fans could be the sight of prolific former Notre Dame and Barbados striker Llewellyn Riley taking on his long-standing teammates Sobers and Parris.
