The gap at the top of the Digicel Premier League should get wider tonight.
Leaders Weymouth Wales, with a seven-point cushion and a game in hand, face last place Pinelands in the second game of a triple header at 6 p.m. at the National Stadium.
A tenth victory for the unbeaten Wales, who are on 29 points, is almost a foregone conclusion and will give them a ten-point lead on inactive Mackeson Brittons Hill and Barbados Defence Force, who are on 22 points.
Pinelands, who played unbeaten in the second round last year, have managed just one win and a draw this season to be on only four points, and unless the likes of Lionel Paul, Jarvis Forde and Prince Cooke can play pivotal roles, the drop to Division 1 is assured.
No team has been able to outplay Wales in midfield where they have an attacking trio of Paul “Soup” Lovell, Zaeehaeus Polius and Jabar Greene, who not only provide service for strikers Dwayne Stanford and Kemar Headley but can also score goals.
Kirk Best has also been playing a key defensive midfield role, while Julian Mottley and Shawn Clarke have been outstanding in defence, in front of goalkeeper Bentley Springer, who has conceded a mere four goals.
In the feature match, who would think the defending champions Meridian Castrol Youth Milan and Claytons Kola Tonic Notre Dame would be clashing worrying about the possibility of relegation?
The stark reality is that Youth Milan, fifth on 15 points, and the Dames, seventh on 13, from 11 matches in the ten-team tournament, can ill afford too many more slip ups with seven matches left.
Since long-serving coach Tony Jarvis took ill and wasn’t able to continue, the Dames, now coached by former national striker, David Ward, have started to decline.
Conversely, Youth Milan, after a shaky start, have been making steady strides, even though missing key defender Romelle Burgess, strikers Kenroy Skinner and Ricky Barnes, as well as experienced goalkeeper Adrian Chase.
The opening match at 4 p.m., will also be crucial for lowly Bagatelle, who play a Pride of Gall Hill side, on a high following a 1-0 win against DirecTV Paradise last Tuesday.
That victory took Gall Hill away from the danger zone into fourth spot on 17 points, and they would be favoured to beat Bagatelle, who are second from the bottom on nine points from ten matches, and need to come up with a series of victories if they want to remain in the Premiership.
