St Benedict’s coach urges squad to stay focussed

ST BENEDICT’S College coach Amin Forgenie has urged his players to stay focussed on producing consistent performances when round two of the Secondary Schools Cricket League (SSCL) Premiership Division bowls off on Tuesday.

Although the South team conquered defending champions Hillview College, in their opening match, last Tuesday, Forgenie reminded his athletic prospects to stay away from complacency as the tournament goes into full swing.

St Benedict’s finished third in the 2019 edition and will travel to Presentation College, Chaguanas, on Tuesday, intent on maintaining its winning momentum away from home. “Pres” however, is hoping to bounce back from an opening round Presentation derby loss against their southern brothers.

“We had a win in the first round so our game plan is to ensure we have consistency in our performance. Consistency is key. The team that we beat last week was not the same Premiership team that won last year. We are not going to be taking up into this belief thing that ‘we beat the defending champions’. It’s a different team with different strengths and weaknesses. We must remain focussed on the task at hand,” he said.

Meanwhile, last year’s runners-up Naparima College is also approaching Tuesday’s meeting with St Mary’s College cautiously, having gone down to Shiva Boys’ Hindu College in round one last week.

Coach Gibran Mohammed’s team remains almost unchanged from his 2019 roster, except for the likes of talisman Cephas Cooper, who graduated in June. He admitted the squad has already recovered mentally from the first result and is ready for their second clash.

“The guys have been working hard. We have prepared well as a team and it’s just for the guys to go out there and execute some of the targets we set out to achieve as a team. As a coach I just need to keep the young men motivated and to understand that it’s a sport we’re playing. We just have to pick ourselves back up, fight straight and go again,” he said.

Mohammed admitted most teams were unable to get full preparations underway during the pre-season, due to persistent rainfall. However, he believes the 2020 SSCL Premiership has gotten more competitive with no real favourites gunning for the crown this time around.

“The competition has no one dominating team,” he added. “Anything can happen but we’re looking to build our momentum and piece all our games together. We have been doing a lot of succession planning so the guys are where they should be mentally and physically. It’s just to execute now.”

Tuesday’s SSCL Premiership Round Two Matches

St Mary’s College vs Naparima College

Presentation College, Chaguanas vs St Benedict’s

Hillview College vs Fatima College

Presentation College, San Fernando vs Shive Boys Hindu College.