League leaders Harbour View, who can ill afford to lose more ground in a tight race for a spot in the Digicel Premier League's (DPL) second End-of-Round final, are hell-bent on securing maximum points when they host Village United at home, tonight at 7 p.m.

Without a loss two fixtures remaining, five teams - Waterhouse, Boys' Town, Sporting Central Academy, Humble Lions and Harbour View - remain in contention.

Without a loss since the start of the second round, red-hot Waterhouse have already accumulated 23 points and have all but secured their spot in the final.

The Stars of the East were comfortably second but fell to third - tied on 17 points with Boys' Town - following a 0-1 loss to a determined Humble Lions outfit over the weekend.

"We were disappointed with dropping the three points, we feel we should have got them, but outside of that there is no real cause for concern and we are looking ahead," Harbour View's coach, Donovan Hayles, told The Gleaner yesterday.

Determined

"The most important thing for us is how we respond to a loss and we are determined to get all three points come tomorrow (today)."

The Geoffrey Maxwell-coached Waterhouse are favoured to add to the misery of bottom-place August Town in an encounter at UWI Bowl. Waterhouse and will not only have confirming their spot in the end-of-round final on their mind, but could also have designs on the top spot should Harbour View slip up again. It is a position not many would have picked the Drewsland team to be in, after a horrific start to the season, which saw them lose their first five games - one in the boardroom which they had drawn.

However, despite boasting the DPL's worst record, August Town have put in a tidy shift on their home ground and have not lost a match at UWI Bowl since September. That, mixed with the fact that the team recently signed coach Paul Young, has Maxwell wary of the last-place outfit.

"Tomorrow's game is going to be a tight one. August Town are getting their confidence back, they have been playing well under a new coach, new instructions. It's down to us. If we play our game we should be victorious. But football is a funny game," Maxwell said.

He added: "The team is very relaxed, very composed we are confident that we can not only go through to the mid-season final, but go on to win it."

Frustrated

Boys' Town, who made up ground on Harbour View over the weekend, could have had an even better result, but saw their efforts to take advantage of dropped points by Harbour View frustrated after a draw with August Town.

Having narrowly missed out on the opportunity of taking part in their first end-of-round football final on a number of occasions since their return to top-flight four seasons ago, the Red Brigade will be keen to capture all three points when they host Sporting Central Academy at Collie Smith Drive.

However, the Clarendon team, which has also had a fairly solid second round, is also in with a shot and could join Boys' Town on 17 points with a win.

Hoping to keep the momentum from a big win over Harbour View, Humble Lions will look to add to the misery of Arnett Gardens when they travel to the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.

Another win for Humble Lions, who are currently in fifth place for the round, having earned 14 points, will see the Clarendon team keep the pressure on those above them in the table.

Having secured only one point in their last two games, defending champions Tivoli Gardens, who have earned 12 points for the round, still have a slim mathematical chance of claiming a spot in the final.

Today's matches

Rivoli United vs Tivoli Gardens at Spanish Town Prison Oval at 6 p.m.

St Georges Sports Club vs Portmore United at Lynch Park at 3 p.m.

Harbour View vs Village United at Harbour View Mini Stadium at 7 p.m.

Arnett Gardens vs Humble Lions at Anthony Spaulding Sports Compex at 6 p.m.

Boys' Town vs Sporting Central Academy at Collie Smith Drive at 3 p.m.

August Town vs Waterhouse at UWI Bowl at 3 p.m.

Summary

Digicel Premier League summary after the 20th round of matches on Sunday.

Arnett Gardens 1 Village United 1 at Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex

GOAL: Arnett - Rohan Reid 82nd; Village -Troy Smith 90+

Portmore United 1 Rivoli United 1 at Ferdie Neita Park

GOALS: Portmore - Shauntel Mundle 73rd; Rivoli - Valentine Gardener 75th

Waterhouse 3 Sporting Central Academy 1 at Waterhouse Mini Stadium

GOAL: Waterhouse - Kevin Lamey 45th, 80th; Sporting - Damarley Samuels 37th

August Town 1 Boys' Town 1 at UWI Bowl

GOALS: August Town - Nicholas Smith 11th; Boys' Town - Peter Keyes 79th

Humble Lions 1 Harbour View 0 at Effortville Community Centre

GOAL: Humble Lions - Omar Walters 58th

St Georges Sports Club 0 Tivoli Gardens 0 at Lynch Park

Standings

Digicel Premier League standings after matches played on Sunday.

(Tabulate under Teams, P-Play, W-Win, D-Draw, L-Lose, GF-Goals For, GA-Goals Against, S-Second Round Points, Pts-Points)