COACH Vassell Reynolds is confident there is enough quality within his Sporting Central Academy squad to fill the void left by inspirational Bahamian striker Lesly St Fleur.

Sporting started the post-St Fleur era with their first home defeat (on the field) following Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Red Stripe Premier League leaders Portmore United.

And while not being outplayed, the Clarendon side did seem to miss the innovation, pace and professional attitude of the Bahamian, who it is said has returned home to prepare for a trial in January.

“Certainly, we miss such a good player,” Reynolds said. “However, the reality is that we have to play without him and I have every confidence in the players we have here to get the job done without St Fleur.”

At the time of his departure, St Fleur, 23, was the club’s joint leading goalscorer and also led the way on assists — creating goals against Portmore, Arnett Gardens, Montego Bay United and Boys’ Town — in 11 games.

Presently, national Under-23 player Levaughn Williams appears to be Sporting’s best attacking threat, but the former Lennon High captain is yet to hit top form this season, despite being the team’s leading goalscorer.

Added Reynolds: “It is basically water under the bridge now because we knew from two weeks ago that we wouldn’t have him for today’s game so we have been preparing for it.

“And we have (enough) quality players who can lead from the front. We saw it today; we created the chances, but just didn’t put them away.”

In Sunday’s game, Sporting did create more than enough chances to win the match, but uncharacteristically struggled to break down a well organised five-man Portmore midfield.

They also paid the ultimate price for some slack defending, which midfielder Ewan Grandison exploited to hit a first-half brace.

Williams did pull a goal back from the penalty spot, but along with Hughan Gray, was guilty of elementary misses throughout the contest.

The defeat has left them level on points with sixth-place Reno, but are eighth in the overall table due to an inferior goal difference.

In spite of the early set back, Reynolds is optimistic that they can go on to match last season’s second-round feat of 18 points, which earned them a mid-season final appearance.

“We want to duplicate the second round that we had last season,” Reynolds told the Observer. “We had a fine run, getting about 17 or 18 points. Unfortunately, this is not the start that we wanted, so we just have to refocus and get ready for the game (against Village United)