Tru-Juice out to stun MBU

Newcomers Tru-Juice FC will hope to extend their impressive start to the Jamaica Premier League when they take on back-to-back semi-finalists Montego Bay United (MBU) at Jarrett Park at 3:30 pm today. Both teams were among the winners in last weekend’s opening round of games along with Racing United, Tivoli Gardens, and Molynes United. Instead of coming in quietly, Tru-Juice FC kicked down the door to make their first appearance in the league with a 4-0 thrashing of Mount Pleasant FA, and their confidence will be high. A retooled MBU were also winners last week, beating Chapelton Maroons 2-0 in a game they dominated and should have won by a wider margin and will hope playing at home will give them the edge over the newcomers. Rodave Murray, who was part of the MBU squad a few seasons ago, and Daniel Roberts both scored braces for Tru-Juice against a Mount Pleasant FA team that are the reigning Concacaf Club and Caribbean Football Union Shield champions, and the MBU defence will need to be at their best if they are to avoid becoming another statistic. Despite insisting they can do better, MBU Head Coach Javier Ainstein was pleased with his team’s performance last weekend and said his deep squad would give him options if required. Deonjay Brown was a handful for the Chapelton defence, scoring the opening goal and then assisting on the second scored by Dwight Merrick, who could force himself into the starting team today. Mount Pleasant, who have since qualified for the semi-finals of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup in midweek, will be gunning to make amends and will face Racing United, who held off Arnett Gardens 3-2 on Monday night. The Theodore Whitmore-coached Mount Pleasant had similarly stumbled out of the blocks last season, drawing their first two games but ended up topping the table at the end of the league stage, and their attacking players will be eager to get going. With a fit Warner Brown, Nickalia Fuller, Trayvon Reid, Daniel Green, and Shaquiel Bradford at their disposal, Mount Pleasant could be a nightmare for a lot of teams but so far they have not managed to perform up to their full potential, scoring just four goals in their last five games across all competitions. Despite a change in coaching, Racing United have not abandoned their main weapons, speed and a pair of goal-hungry strikers, Tajay Grant and Nickyle Ellis, who combined for three goals on Monday. Tivoli Gardens and Treasure Beach, two teams that narrowly avoided relegation last season, will meet at the STETHS Sports Complex in Santa Cruz, with the visitors seeking back-to-back wins. Andrew Price-coached Tivoli Gardens opened their account with a 3-0 win over Humble Lion, and face a Treasure Beach team that gave up two goals in the last three minutes of regulation to lose 3-2 after leading 2-0 at half-time. Treasure Beach were undefeated against Tivoli last season, winning their last two games 4-2 after drawing 0-0 in the first game, and will hope to extend the run today. Molynes United, who missed relegation by three points and failed to beat Chapelton Maroons last season, will be going after a second straight win when they travel to Drax Hall. Chapelton got off to a lukewarm start, failing to extend MBU and must lift their game if they are to get anything from the game today.