A position at the summit of the Premier Division will be at stake when North Village clash with Dandy Town at Bernard Park on Saturday afternoon.

With David Jones Jr and Jonté Smith, the league’s top strikers, featuring on opposite ends, the match promises to be a thriller. Town, with a game in hand, have a one-point advantage over Village, with the winner of the encounter guaranteed to be on top at the end of the 90 minutes.

A day after Town had their match against Devonshire Colts postponed, Village failed to capitalise. Calvin Dill Jr’s side saw their return to Bernard Park spoilt by St George’s Colts, as the East Enders took the three points with a 3-2 victory.

That was the third loss of the season for the Rams, and Dill wants his team to quickly bounce back from that defeat.

What should serve as motivation for Village is that they won the first meeting between the two teams 1-0 on October 6 at Goose Gosling Field, with that still Town’s only defeat of the season.

“We have to redeem ourselves from last week,” the Village interim head coach said.

“We know we are coming up against the league, but we have prepared well this week. Losing is part of football; what matters is how you bounce back from the losses.

“In our last couple of matches, we have been creating chances but not putting them away, and we have done something about this week.”

Town coach Kyle Lightbourne is not counting on the games in hand, as there are no guarantees of winning the outstanding fixtures.

“It is always a tricky situation when you have not played,” he said. “I prefer to be playing week in, week out, but due to the weather, we had games postponed.

“It is an opportunity for us against one of our nearest rivals. A lot of teams are closing in on us right now with us not playing. I would rather have points than games in hand.

“We cannot afford to lose because Village and PHC are just a point behind us. Colts and Paget are not that far behind, so it is starting to tighten up.”

Village, still without the injured Rai Sampson, have been boosted by the return of two experienced players. Jalen Harvey is back from injury, while Tre Ming makes a return after serving a suspension for accumulating three yellow cards.

Z’Dao Dill, one of the scorers against St George’s, is due to play his last match for Village before he goes back to school overseas.

Lightbourne is delighted to still have Jaiden Manders and Lazai Outerbridge, who were part of the Town side that won the Friendship Trophy, available for selection.

St George’s, still celebrating their win against Village, have a chance to collect more points when they welcome Young Men’s Social Club to Wellington Oval on Saturday afternoon.

In matches scheduled for Sunday, PHC clash with bottom side Wolves. Paget, who were victorious against Cougars on Tuesday, take on Hamilton Parish at Southampton, while Colts and Cougars clash in the Devonshire Derby at Police Field.