Refocused Duckie ready for Mt Pleasant’s second season

Mount Pleasant Academy are shooting for a championship-winning run in their second season in the Red Stripe Premier League, and one of the biggest keys to their success could be a reinvigorated head coach, Donovan Duckie.

The former national under-23 team coach has been back at the club since his dismissal from the national programme on August 8, and according to manager David Galloway, the St Mary native is in the proper frame of mind to lead his team towards improved success.

"In spite of what he has been through with the under-23 team, he is back now and he is [leading] training in full," said Galloway, speaking to STAR Sports.

"He is more into it now than before due to the fact that if you are under the pressure of the country, you want to redeem yourself in a positive way."

Duckie will surely be hoping that redemption will be in the form of another play-off appearance after a stunning debut season for the St Ann-based club. The renewed challenge of taking the club on a title run this year could be what the doctor ordered, after a summer fraught with failure that started with the under-23's embarrassing Olympic Games qualification campaign and ended with a poor Pan American games campaign.

Galloway is pleased with the way Duckie has approached his team's preparations, noting that the head coach's only concern is getting the team ready for a long campaign.

"You just have to do what you have to do, get your team prepared and get your team [to] work hard and work well together. And that's what he's doing so far," he said.

Galloway is optimistic going into the season opener and is confident that the team has used their first-year league experience and has targeted his club to aim for a top-two finish and, ultimately, the title.

"Last season, we have learnt our lesson. We have seen where we have fallen short and where we need to step up and what we need to do. So all we need to do is just put that together for this season and see how best it works out, and hope that we can garner the championship this season," he said.

"It's always our dream and our passion to grab the championship. We want to do much better than what we did last season. We want to see if we can finish in the top two this season and, being in the top two, [to] just win the championship."

Mount Pleasant opens their season on Sunday against Harbour View at home at Drax Hall.