[Mrs. Boss™]

Title holders Harbour View will launch their bid to retain the Western Union Jackie Bell KO crown today, when they host Rae Town - a team two divisions below them in the local football arena - in a quarter-final match-up at 7 p.m. at the Harbour View Mini Stadium.

Despite their lowly status as a Major League team, Rae Town have had a stellar run in the knockout competition to date and the Stars of the East, though heavily favoured to advance to the semi-finals, will be wise to be wary of this fact.

Does not fear champions

Led by top scorers Donald Foster (4) and Hughall Lawson (3), Rae Town registered a 4-0 win over Port Royal, then stunned perennial Super League contenders Bull Bay 3-0, before turning back another Super League team, Brown's Town, 1-0.

Even though they are facing their toughest challenge to date, Rae Town's coach, Donovan Evans, does not fear the champions.

"We are not really worried about playing them, we just always take things one game at a time," Evans told The Gleaner. "I have told my team to remember that the longer we stay in the game is the better the chance we have of winning and tonight we intend to do just that.

"We have been training hard and I think we will be ready. The team was set back a little due to a long Christmas season, but I would say that right now we are where we want to be," he said.

Taking it seriously

It will be very tough task however, to supplant the Stars of the East, a team not only looking for their sixth overall title, but the third in a row. Having now seemed to have recovered from an early stumble which saw them drop points in consecutive Premier League games, assistant coach Donovan Hayles will look to keep the wins coming in.

"We are taking this competition very seriously. We are the defending champions and we also have a chance to create a bit of history," said Hayles, whose leading scorers this season include Lovel Palmer, Marcelino Blackburn and Kavin Bryan. "We definitely won't be taking them lightly, the players have really bought into the idea of professionalism, we take all our games seriously and games are decided on the pitch."

While today's line-up might now be necessarily full strength, Hayles insists the team will be a strong one.

"At this point in the season, we need to rotate our players, so the line-up might be a mixed one, but it will definitely be a strong team," he said.

source: The Gleaner