H View, Humble Lion square off
Outside of runaway leaders Arnett Gardens, who are on a roll with a record 10 straight wins, the hottest team in the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) is Humble Lion out of Clarendon.
The Clarendon-based team has won four matches on the trot since former national Under-20 coach Donovan Duckie stepped to the forefront to lead the club's charge in the league. That run has seen them climb to sixth position. Today, they will try to improve their winning run to five when they play away to fourth-place Harbour View.
The ever confident Duckie is of the belief that good things will happen for his charges and team at the end of the 90 minutes.
high confidence level
"Good things are what you can expect. We are playing well and the confidence level is really high. We are mindful of not getting overconfident, and once we keep that in balance we should be fine," said the man who has also coached at the schoolboy level.
What is going for his team, according to Duckie, is the presence of the right ingredients.
"We have a clear picture of what we want to do. We have accomplished players and they know what it takes to win. Add to that the solidarity and unity that we have. Those are some of the important tools we need to achieve success in the league," explained the former soldier who will have the likes of captain Jermaine Christian, Devon Hodges, Wolry and Kemeel Wolfe, the newly acquired Gregory Lewis and Ricardo Cousins to call on.
Andrew Hines, coach of Harbour View and an admirer of Duckie's abilities, is happy to see him back in the league, but while he will be welcoming him, he wishes to halt his charge.
"It is good to know that Donovan is back in the league and doing well. He is a very technical coach and one who pays attention to detail but we will be prepared for them. They want to win but we have our objectives as well," said Hines, a tough-tackling defender in his days as a player.
As far as his team is concerned, Hines said that despite the fact that key players like Jermie Lynch and Rosario Harriott as well as youngster Rennico Clarke will be absent, his team will be ready to take care of the job.
"This week we had a good time in training. While Lynch is out McKaully Tulloch will be back and we have capable replacements for the others," said Hines.