SPORTING Central Academy coach Vassell Reynolds reckons they are well on track to achieve their first-round target of collecting at least 16 points.

Sporting notched their third successive win in this year’s National Premier League campaign following a 2-1 win over Humble Lion in Sunday’s Clarendon derby at Effortville to move within a point of leaders Waterhouse (10).

And Reynolds said the aim now is not necessarily to qualify for the first end-of-round final, but to earn as many points as possible.

“At the moment, the momentum is with us,” he said. “We have set some reachable objectives for the season and I think we are on target for the first round.

“We looked at last season’s performance and figured anywhere between 16 to 20 points should be good for us. If that takes us to the end-of-round final so be it, but our main objective is to accumulate as many points as possible,” Reynolds added.

In the game against Humble Lion, Sporting again demonstrated their growth and maturity with a dazzling first-half display, before keeping the hosts at bay for much of the second half.

Their trademark style of quick transitional play shot them into a 2-0 lead after 36 minutes, with Bahamian striker Lesly St Fleur and winger Hughan Gray finishing off counter-attacking plays just five minutes apart.

As expected, Sporting were asked to defend in the second period — as the hosts looked to claw their way back into the contest — and were perhaps unlucky not to have come away from the Lion’s den unscratched after conceding a late goal.

“I’m not too satisfied with how we finished the game, especially in the last 20 minutes,” Reynolds said of his team’s second-half performance. “We sat back too deep and gave Humble Lion too much space to play and it could have cost us the game in the end.”

Humble Lion’s last-minute consolation strike meant Sporting were conceding for the fourth time in four games, leaving them with a goal difference of +3, but Reynolds said: “I’m not overly concerned about our defensive unit; I think they will get it right as time goes by.”

Meanwhile, Humble Lion’s coach Lenworth Hyde Snr was left baffled by his team’s poor home record following a second successive defeat at Effortville.

Their six points earned so far this season have come on the road and Hyde, who has always stressed the need for his team to stamp their class at home, just could not pinpoint a reason for their failure to shine on home soil.

“It seems like we won’t be troubling anyone while we are playing at home,” an obviously disappointed Hyde said. “We have to try and remedy this, though. Maybe we have to get a psychiatrist to come and talk to the players or something, but we just can’t continue like this.

“There’s no way you can be playing in an environment like this and not performing. This just never used to happen in our time. A crowd like this would make us eager to perform,” he added.