by EZRA STUART

IT WILL BE a separate battle between the two remaining junior football teams and the two senior sides in the semi-finals of the inaugural Guinness Super 8 Cup at the National Stadium tonight.

In the first game at 6 p.m., a large posse will no doubt journey from St Thomas and St Andrew to see giant-killers Wibisco Hillaby clash with Division 1 champions Ricky's Driving School Haggatt Hall.

Fresh from their penalty shoot-out victory over Tudor Bridge, Hillaby, the Division 3 zone qualifiers, will be on a high as top level football makes a return to the stadium.

In 26-year-old Bentley Phillips, Hillaby have a capable custodian, while central defender Jermaine Ellis is not only a tough tackler but is strong in the air.

But Ellis could have his work cut out, keeping Alvin Jack, who scored a hat-trick against Cosmos, and Wayne St Hill at bay. It will be interesting to see whether Haggatt Hall, whose only loss this season came in their very first match, will bring super sub Watari Nelson off the bench or start with Karl Cole.

At the other end, Hillaby's Erwin Small and Rondell Ifill will have a tough task getting past Haggatt Hall's goalkeeper Lebert Stevenson with Ryan Cox, Dean Francois and Ryan Fung around him.

The feature match at 8 p.m. between Premiership powerhouses Claytons Kola Tonic Notre Dame and the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) could either see the army boys reaping revenge or the Dames repeating their first round onslaught.

When they met in the Premier League a fortnight ago, the Dames dished out a 4-0 drubbing to the BDF, whose usually strong defence has shown a few cracks in its armour with Greg Belle and Rohan Hall on the injured list.

The experienced Azard Weekes and Tyrone Holder have been manning the fort with support from new recruit Kevin Padmore and Paul Alexander in protecting evergreen goalkeeper Albert Brathwaite.

BDF have suffered a major blow with the unfortunate sending off of Jeffrey Williams, who scored both goals in Sunday's 2-1 triumph over Youth Milan and finding a replacement may not be easy unless youngsters Jermaine Boyce, Dwayne McClean or Jason Holder step up to the plate.

It could be the perfect time for Malcolm "Buju" Marshall to raise his game a few notches as he battles with John Hawkesworth for midfield turf.

When the dust is settled, the Dames and Haggatt Hall could be the ones contesting Sunday's final at the YMCA.

ezrastuart@nationnews.com