Portmore United striker Steven Morrissey and Boys' Town's George Vernal.
Defending champions Portmore United will be looking to cling on to their precious lead when they host title-chasing Boys' Town in today's night game at Ferdie Neita Park at 7:00, as the Digicel Premier League third round winds down to a very intense and interesting close.
The fixtures are getting increa-singly difficult because after today's penultimate round clash against the third-place Colour Red, Portmore will close off this round against second-place Harbour View.
A hard fixture also awaits the Stars of the East, who will visit Drewsland Mini Stadium to face a Waterhouse team that is involved in a desperate struggle to claim a spot among the top six, which will comprise the elite grouping in the fourth round.
Only five matches will be played in that ultimate stanza and with the contests between top and bottom placed teams largely competitive, but for a few teams, the forecast suggests that points will not be won easily in the seven remaining rounds, counting this afternoon's schedule.
Easily matched
Right now, the margin of four points held by Portmore at the top is best described by that favourite word of Lord of the Rings character Gollum (Smeagol) "precious, precious, precious".
Given results in previous clashes this season, Portmore and Boys' Town will realise there is little or no room for error, as they are easily matched.
Portmore won 1-0 in their first-round home fixture and Boys' Town returned the favour when Portmore paid them a visit, winning 2-1.
Both are coming off contrasting results, Portmore losing 2-0 at Tivoli in their previous match and Boys' Town registering a similar margin of victory over Waterhouse at Boys' Town.
Despite those results, Portmore have been more consistent this round, with 20 of a possible 30 points, and Boys' Town, who have earned 15, would have to combine their skill and running game almost perfectly to grab full points and narrow the gap between themselves and the leaders to six.
Most of Boys' Town's hopes will rest on their main scorers this season, Peter Keyes, George Vernal, captain Michael Campbell and Renae Lloyd.
Portmore are more measured and tactical in their approach, relying more on efficiency as a team to break down their opponents.
They are not short on talent either, possessing weapons of varying degrees, from the speed and movement of Steven Morrissey to the power-kicking of Ricardo Cousins and sublime skills of Carlington Smith and Mario Swaby.
Both defences are capable, but will have to be at their best to ward off the strong challenges in what should be a very competitive and close encounter.
Harbour View knocked off Waterhouse 3-0 when the Drewsland team was going through a horrible patch. When things got better, they drew 0-0 at Compound.
They have continued to show improvements since Paul Young's coming, but as last week's result at Boys' Town indicates, the 'Firehouse' crew has not been burning a steady trail.
The challenge of reclaiming sixth spot from Arnett will certainly increase their desire. And they have the quality, with goal-getting Jermaine Anderson and Kevin Lamey leading their charge.
But, will it be enough to melt the spirit of a Harbour View team in line for the title?
Not even getting a point at home to Sporting Central Academy in the last round was a crippling blow and Harbour View will not want to suffer such fate again. They have not been smooth recently and will be without striker Rafeik Thomas, out on league suspension. However, their line-up includes many capable players to pose a serious challenge for points that look likely to be won by who wants it more.
Tivoli Gardens, at fourth and 10 points off Portmore, will be looking to make good on any additional slip-ups to encourage their aspirations.
They, too, will have a key player missing, Christopher Jackson, also out on league suspension for his involvement in the same fracas with Harbour View's Thomas.
However, their task is also difficult because Sporting Central - though lying fourth from bottom in the 12-team standings - are displaying form bettered only by Portmore United in this third round.
Portmore have won 20 points and Harbour View 18, the same as Sporting Central who have blasted away their relegation worries.
Tivoli won 3-0 and 4-1 in their previous matches, but there is every indication this one will be different.
St Georges have won twice against Reno this season and the second-from-bottom Westmoreland team will be hard-pressed breaking the trend. St Georges, who held a top-five spot most of the league, are also tussling to get back in the top six.
They cannot get complacent though, as Reno's desire to save the drop, added to the fact that they have players who can really hurt by scoring, could combine for an unexpected result.
On a freefall
Village United are on a freefall and seem incapable of halting their slide. This will give Arnett more rope to widen the gap and cement their spot among the top six, unless they really buck their toes and throw Village a lifeline.
Meadhaven and Rivoli have produced close results, a goalless finish at Rivoli and a seven-goal thriller Meadhaven won to win the other. How much they crave for another successful finish, that would keep them hanging on to hopes for survival.