Three of the four teams in tonight’s Digicel Premier League football double header at the Wildey AstroTurf will have a common goal in their final match of the first round.
For second place DirecTV Paradise and Mackeson Brittons Hill, who clash in the opening match at 6 p.m., and defending champions, Weymouth Wales, it will be trying to narrow the gap on leaders Barbados Defence Force (BDF).
Before yesterday’s match against Dayrells Road, BDF (20) had a five-point cushion on Paradise (15) while Wales, who will meet winless Youth Milan at 8 p.m., were fourth on 14 points.
Brittons Hill are in fifth position on 13 points and cannot afford another slip-up at this stage if they are to make a serious run for what will only be their third top-flight league title.
Striker Arantees Lawrence will be looking to redeem himself after missing a penalty in his team’s 1-1 draw with Gall Hill. He will be up against a Paradise side which has defended stoutly all season, apart from in the 5-0 drubbing by BDF.
In their seven other matches, goalkeeper Jason Boxhill has conceded only two more goals with clean sheets against St John Sonnets, Gall Hill, Cosmos, Wales and Notre Dame.
Support from Lawrence will come from Hendy Richards and Walton Burrowes but captain Riviere Williams, who has been used in a midfield role for most of the season, needs to show that he is still capable of scoring goals.
At the other end, Paradise’s Kenny Sealy, who has taken on the role as his team’s main forward in the absence of the injured Armando Lashley, Mustaffa Haqq and Kadeem Latham, will be hoping to score in his third straight match.
In the nightcap game, Milan, on a solitary point from seven matches, will be hard-pressed to avoid their seventh loss of the season.
Their opponents, Wales seem to be coming into their own after a slow start. Young striker Kemar Headley has been picking apart defences with his nifty moves while creating goal-scoring opportunities for fellow striker Dwayne Stanford.
Headley may find the Milan defence to be quite accommodating, especially since the likes of Dwayne Skinner, Shaun Wilson, Travis Hinds and former CARIFTA Games’ javelin gold medallist Brian Husbands – all in their 30s – are not as fast as they used to be. Even former Barbados custodian Adrian Chase is not as agile as he used to be.
Wingers Carl Joseph and Jason “Fowlie” Blackman could also be a handful for the Youth Milan defence while Jabar “Buggy” Greene and Kemar Bartlett will orchestrate the plays through the middle.
For, Milan to surprise Wales, it will require an overall improvement. Former player, Brian Archer has answered an SOS to retake the coaching duties with another former player Patrick Skinner assisting but faced with a number of injury problems, he must make some bold changes to the team’s line-up.
Taking into account that their inspirational captain Norman Forde is recuperating from a back injury, it may be prudent to employ the experienced Kenroy Skinner in a midfield role, alongside Ramon Greaves and Jermaine Boyce.
This would pave the way for the speedy Angus Doyle to partner Damien “Duffy” Edwards up front and provide Youth Milan with more fire power to challenge the Wales’ defence, which has been fortified by the acquisition of Omar Primus this season.
Edwards, who transferred to Youth Milan at the start of the season from Cosmos, has scored in two of their last three matches while Doyle is the type of player who always gets into goal-scoring positions.