Cautious optimism as Cornwall face new daCosta Cup season

CORNWALL COLLEGE assistant coach Hector Wright says preparations for the upcoming daCosta Cup season are going well and they are ready for the task ahead.

“We have gone through pre-season in terms of endurance, strength, speed training and a lot of practice matches,” Wright said.

Last season, Cornwall College advanced to the quarter-finals after they edged out St Elizabeth Technical High on goal difference. They, however, finished at the bottom of Group B after losing all three quarter-final round matches.

According to Wright, there is cautious optimism at Cornwall, as they have a fresh set of players. A number of under-16 and under-14 players have joined the previous squad.

“What we are going through is a transition. The team is a relatively new one, so I wouldn’t say expectations are high,” said Wright, a former national midfielder who made his debut in 1988 against Canada and earned 110 caps. He is assisting Theodore Whitmore, the Jamaica Premier League coach at Mount Pleasant Academy, who is leading the charge after the departure of Dr Dean Weatherly, who was head coach at Cornwall College for 25 years.

Speaking on Thursday, just two days before the season’s opener tomorrow, Wright said the team is looking forward to playing against two-time champions Herbert Morrison Technical High School at the Montego Bay Sports Complex. He added that the players will also be pushed to do well by the memory of the tragic death of their former teammate Dane Buckley, who died after being shot in May this year.

“It will always be in our minds that we lost a very good player who would have been a part of the team this year. Our team, I am pretty sure, wants to go out and represent what Dane would have represented, and that is a very dedicated and committed player,” Wright said.

“We also want to go out there and play to the best of our ability. We are not going to ask much of them (players). As I said, they are a young team. There are, however, a few players from last year and, overall, I just want them to express themselves and try to put on display the things they have learnt from the coaching staff and go out there, relax and play some good football,” Wright added.

The 128 year-old Cornwall College have won 31 titles in schoolboy football. These include 12 daCosta Cup, seven Ben Francis KO and 12 Olivier Shield titles. Cornwall College will contest Zone A of the first round with Herbert Morrison, Green Pond High, Irwin High, Maldon High and St James High.