LACOVIA, St Elizabeth — Lacovia High will not go down without a fight, says coach Fitzroy Ambursley, after two successive defeats in Zone E of the ISSA/Flow daCosta Cup competition have left their inter-zone hopes in the balance.

Mathematically, a second-round spot is still very much within their reach as only a point separates them from top two, STETHS and BB Coke, with four rounds of matches still to be played in the group.

But Ambursley admits that back-to-back defeats to STETHS and Munro might have punctured his young players’ confidence.

He said: “Some of the guys are down now, because they are very young — 15 and 16-years-old playing against 17, 18 and 19-years-old — so this type of thing will affect them.”

But he has vowed to rise to the challenge of motivating his charges to rediscover the form that saw them topping the zone (with 10 points) four games in.

“We just need to hold our heads up and move on to the next stage because this is not the end of the road. So we have to fight back,” said Ambursley. “And one of my biggest jobs now is to keep them focused, keep them together and ensure that mentally they are okay.”

Lacovia host basement team Newell High in their next game today.

— Oshane Tobias