Vere United sits like a proud peacock atop the Jamaica Premier League after match week seven — a surprise to not only themselves, but also everyone else who follows the league.

Technically relegated before the 2019-2020 season was cancelled, Vere United were expected to be one of the teams propping up the league again this season. However, the Donovan Duckie-coached team has been anything but relegation fodder.

They were top of the league for a few hours two match days ago, but are now outright leaders of the league after clipping Arnett Gardens 1-0 on Monday.

According to Duckie, Monday’s win was an important one for the club who had prepared to face Arnett Gardens dangerman Renaldo Cephas.

“It’s an important move for us in the right direction. As I said before, nothing has changed. We spoke about everything that we wanted to do in the game. We were expecting to play against Cephas. He never played, we prepared to play against him,” Duckie said.

The journeyman coach has enjoyed great success so far this season and rationalised his team’s playing style, which has led to their heady position in the league.

“The style that we play suits us because of our preparation. We cannot play explosive, we can’t be open like these teams, because when we get caught in transition, that is going to be the problem. We play from a deep block. We play in transition,” he explained.

Duckie believes that luck was an important component in the game on Monday.

“You have to feel sorry for Arnett, they moved the ball quickly, they move the ball good, they created three good chances. They were very unlucky to have not score.

“I thought we were lucky to have gotten a point out of the game. It could have gone either way, but still we defended creditably and we put in a solid performance.”

Regardless of their position and the real possibility of play-off football on the horizon, Duckie remains grounded about his club’s overall ambition.

“Nothing has changed with us. We are very humble when we are on the training pitch. We have no high expectations; there is still no expectation for us of winning the league. I am very surprised that we came away with three points. I thought a 1-1 draw in the end would have been a fair result based upon how the game played [out].

“We are doing exceptionally well. The table will reflect that, [but] I still think we have a lot of work to do on the field. We are not a deep squad, but we are making the best out of what we are doing.”

He praised the support the club has been receiving, while expressing surprise at their current position.

“To be on top of the league is a huge surprise for me at this point. I know the quality that we have, the style of play that we have employed. Our support is wonderful from the Cousins and the Vere United family.”

Describing his team as “efficient”, the former national youth coach says that beating Vere is not going to be easy this term.

“The players try and they work a lot. One word jumps out, efficiency. So, another team might have a luxury of 30 quality players, but we don’t have that. But our strategy and our tactics together create that platform for us to maximise our work together and achieve probably the same or a better result than teams who are better able, in terms of talent pool.

“So we are working well. We are working to a plan. That’s what we do, we don’t change our plan. It’s easy to study what we do, but if we perfect what we do it’s going to be difficult to play against us.”

There will be no letting up from Vere who are not getting carried away with what they have achieved so far, he promised.

“Anything from here is a bonus. We have done exceptionally well. This is a discussion that we have had. I am very pleased with the performance of the players. I am very pleased with the support, the staff in the background, our assistant coach who left us last week, Alain Whittaker. Everyone is doing well, and the players are doing their part and we just want to remain focused and humble and see where it takes us.”

His players laud him as more than just a coach and Duckie, who agrees with them, says that his coaching methodology is the key to the long-term goals he has for his project at Vere.

“That is one of the most important things when you are dealing with people. They are human beings, so other than being a teacher of football, we want to cultivate intrinsic motivation; we want to see them excel overseas, making national teams, making their community and families proud.

“We have a lot of discussions about that and also their welfare. It’s important to know their parents, their family background, that’s a part of coaching, parent coaching and that also helps them to be more committed to what they are doing.”

Having been busy from the opening match day, Vere will now have the luxury of a bye week before they return to the pitch for their final three games of the regular season.