We’re back and ready!

Mount Pleasant head coach Paul Davis and Phillip Williams, the man in charge at Tivoli Gardens, have stressed that they will be seeking strong starts when they face each other in their Jamaica Premier League season opener today at 1 p.m. at the UWI Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.

After a hiatus of 15 months, local top-flight football returns albeit, in a different environment, and with a more truncated schedule. The season will operate within the COVID-19 climate where no fans will be in attendance, safety protocols in place, centralised venues for all games and fewer teams. The withdrawal of The University of the West Indies Football Club means that only 11 teams will contest the four-month-long competition. Cavalier SC and Humble Lion will face each other in the second game of a double-header at 3:30 p.m. at the same venue.

MENTALLY READY FOR THE GAME

Williams, while acknowledging fitness concerns ahead of the season opener, says that his team is mentally ready to perform on a football field again after the lengthy absence.

“We definitely had to chop and cut in terms of our different stages of preparation. Playing (today) may be too soon in terms of where we want to be,” Williams told The Gleaner. “But mentally the guys mentally want to play football. Probably physically they are not ready as yet but they are going to go out and try to enjoy themselves firstly and then also to present a fair enough brand of football to the viewing public.”

Tivoli Gardens will open the league against a team that they have not had a great record against. Since Mount Pleasant’s promotion to the top flight in 2018, the St Ann-based outfit has won five of the last six meetings against Tivoli, including three straight wins in the 2019-20 season.

However, Davis says that past success against the west Kingston-based club will mean little in today’s opener with all teams having to navigate through the past year of inactivity.

“We don’t put that (past record) in our preparations. It can be a factor but you have to face reality. We are not going to take this team lightly regardless of the good record against them,” Davis said. We are going to go into this game very seriously. It’s the first game for everybody in over a year. Now we have to stick to our game plan and do what we have to do.”

Last season Mount Pleasant were title contenders, as they were a point behind leaders Waterhouse. Davis says that the absence of local football for 15 months has not extinguished the club’s desire for success but recognises that they will need to provide the extra push for the players in the absence of their supporters.

“We as a coaching staff have to keep them (players) in the game. It’s going to be one of the most important things. It’s going to be ‘unusual’ football but nevertheless, I think these guys are up to the task.

Tivoli made a grand push from the bottom two to sixth place and in the play-offs spots last year and Williams says Mount Pleasant are ideal opponents to help them gauge themselves in a season where there is little margin for error.

“After playing one of the best you will definitely know where your team is. So you will have a yardstick to measure what you need to improve and where you need to be at in this truncated season,” Williams said.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com