It will take a brave man to bet against Red Stripe Premier League leaders Portmore United taking the LIME St Catherine FA Happy Sutherland knockout crown this season.

Tomorrow, the star-studded side take on Super League outfit De La Vega City in one of two quarter-final matches at the Prison Oval, with match time beginning at 5 p.m. Portmore will be hard to beat with veteran marksman Roen Nelson seeming to find his goal-scoring touch. He plundered four goals as Portmore demolished Division Two side Ensom City 12-0 in their last KO match. Portmore will also bank on big-game specialist Tremaine Stewart, who has scored some timely goals for Portmore, two of which were netted in a 2-0 win over Tivoli Gardens in the Red Stripe Premier League end-of-round final recently.

They also have the likes of Damarley Samuels in their line-up, which makes them a deadly attacking side.

Portmore also drubbed Major League team Wanderers 6-0 in the first round. Multiple champions Portmore last won the title in 2010. Calvin Lewis, head coach of Portmore United, said that the team is ready for the challenge.

"The preparation is good so far and we have a mixture of senior and U-21 players.

"Any competition that we enter we want to win the trophy, and come Saturday we hope to send a strong message so people know what we are about."

However, in the same breath, Lewis said his team will respect their opponents and try to finish off the match as early as possible.

"We are not taking anything for granted, we just want to win this match and progress to the semi-finals," Lewis said.

Since entering the competition, they have only failed to win the trophy despite being overwhelming favourites on both occasions. Naggo Head defeated them 6-5 on penalties in the 2008 final, while defending champions Frazers Whip, who are already in the semi-finals, eliminated them 1-0 at the quarter-final stage last season.

Zekiel Simpson, coach of De La City, said his team comes into the match at a disadvantage.

"It will be an uphill task for us as our top-three attacking players will be out of this match. Two, Ronique Rowe and Corey Crossgill due to injury and they are our two top goal scorers, and out on a red card is another good attacker in Damion Forrester," he said.

"We don't see this as a disappointment, we see it as an opportunity for the youngsters to step up and it is good exposure for them. Players like Oneil Walters, who played for Spanish Town High in the Manning Cup, and Demar Dumfries will have to up their game to another level," Simpson said.

"We are depending on our veteran goalkeeper and captain David Morgan, Richard Wood, a key midfielder and Corey Rodriquez for leadership." The opening game pits Division One team Old Harbour Bay against major league club McCook's Pen. The semi-finals will be played in January. `