Molynes hoping for Christmas miracle

The story of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun before plummeting to the Earth, comes to mind when you think about the topsy-turvy campaign Molynes United have been having in their maiden season of the Red Stripe Premier League.

The league debutants were riding high on confidence when they made their first few appearance in top flight football as they won their first six matches with impressive victories over defending champions Portmore United, UWI FC, Arnett Gardens, and Mount Pleasant.

Fortunes quickly changed however for the league’s newcomers who went on to endure a 12 game winless streak and have fallen from their high perch of second in the league to just above the brink of relegation.

Calvert Fitzgerald, the man given charge over the team after the departure of Lijyasu Simms, admits that while the club does have a few players marked as possible transfer targets, the main focus right now is to motivate the current crop of players.

“The team started well, unbeaten in six games so obviously [Lijyasu Simms] was doing something well, so whatever went wrong, that will be what I’ll be trying to fix,” Fitzgerald said. “A few new players have shown interest and we’re taking a look at them, but so far, we’ve not finalised any transfers.”

Coming into the job, Fitzgerald acknowledged that it would not be an easy fix as the string of poor results had impacted the players’ motivation heavily and hampered their play. He says that a major problem that he has identified so far is lack of fitness.

“As you know, the Premier League is a very physical and hard-running league, so if you fall off the pace, you’re not going to be able to compete. It’s a long process to get fit but it’s easy to lose that fitness and I think that’s what happened,” he said.

The team still has high expectations for their season as Fitzgerald says that while they maybe be just above the relegation zone, a single win may see them getting back into the thick of things.

-Gregory Bryce