David Bascome and Meshach Wade will be aiming to turn the Heat up on their rivals this morning when they play a crunch match that could have huge implications for the rest of their season.

The Bermudians, who play for the Harrisburg Heat in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in the US, face Philadelphia at the city's First National Centre today -- a match that unusually for the league kicks off at 10.30 a.m.

Speaking before flying out for the game, Bascome said: "It's a school day game. There will be about 13,000 people there when it kicks off at 10.30 a.m.

"They usually have one a year and they get a lot of school kids down there to watch the game.'' Harrisburg and Philadelphia are neck-and-neck at the top of the league's American Conference standings.

The Island connection were on song over the weekend when the Heat played the Baltimore Blast and the Kansas City Attack in quick succession.

"Meshach had the game winner on Saturday and I had the game winner on Sunday.

We were playing in Baltimore and that was a good win for us, they are a very good team,'' he said.

"We had to fly to Kansas City on the Sunday and be there at 6 p.m. We sneaked our way in, did what we had to do and now we are tied for first place with Philadelphia.'' It is getting to a critical point in the NPSL and matches are coming thick and fast.

"We have 12 games left. Right now we are taking one game at time. We have two more games when we come back on Thursday, we have to play Kansas on Friday and Cleveland on Saturday,'' Bascome said.

"So we can make a run for it if we want. We have just got to keep playing well. I think we will beat these teams but we have five or six games in eight days so we just have to keep focused.'' Bascome said talk of making the post-season and lifting championships were premature, although it had inevitably cropped up in conversations.

"That would mean a lot. Everytime we go to work we talk about it, this is what we have to do. I can taste it. I can taste the vibe, the morale of the team, it's a good group of players,'' he said.

"I'd love to win a championship soon. It would be something that I've worked for for a long time -- that would be final. That would be the icing on the cake.

"But I have to stay focused on one game at a time. If I don't then I lose track. To look at play-offs, to look at the final and to look at the championship it's looking too far -- but that's my final goal.'' Bascome is due for contract talks in the near future but he said he was putting that to the back of his mind for the good of the team.

"Nothing is happening and it's good because it allows me to stay focused,'' he said. "I'm pretty sure we will be talking after the season. There have been brief little words and stuff going on but I'm not concerned, I know that that's going to get sorted out.'' Continued on page 14 Bascome focused Continued from page 13 "Right now my focus is on playing these games and doing well.'' Wade, meanwhile, has not long since returned from a medial cruciate ligament injury (MCL) that kept him out of action for eight weeks.

He has taken part in every match since coming back into the reckoning and said: "I have been playing pretty well. I have been playing with a knee-brace but ever since I have had it off I have been able to do more. Running in a brace slows you down so I just wear a sleeve now so my movement is much better.'' Wade believes it is not just individual skill, but a collective effort that has helped the Heat rise to the top.

"It's teamwork, we have to stick together. It's actually the first time the franchise has been on top of the standings for about five years, so we are doing well as a team,'' he said.

Harrisburg go into today's game with a 3-2 head-to-head lead this season over Philadelphia, and Wade is confident those statistics won't be under threat, despite the undoubted pressure that the side will face.

"There's a lot of rivalry. Philadelphia and Baltimore, they are our rivals.

Once we take care of them, so long as we keep focused and win the games we are supposed to we will be all right,'' he said.

Wade believes much of the credit for his own performances should go to his friend Bascome. At times he says he still has to pinch himself to prove he is in fact lining up alongside the Heat's all-time leading scorer.

"It's like a dream. We were talking about it the other day. I never dreamed I'd be playing on the same team as him,'' he said.

"He's a great help. David has been playing 10 years and he not only inspires me but the other young guys and even guys that have been playing for five or six years. Everyone looks up to David.'' David Bascome: great season