St Lucian goalkeeper Vino Barclett introduced himself to the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) on match day four with a Man of the Match performance that saw him play a pivotal role in champions Cavalier FC claiming only their second win of the campaign.

After winning on match day one, when they began their title defence, Cavalier lost two games in a row to quickly slump to near the foot of the table.

Added to that was the absence of the influential Jeadine White in goal after he secured a transfer to the USL.

But after a couple of games between the sticks in which he adjusted to the pace of the JPL, Barclett looked quite at home last Monday in a splendid performance that saw the champions keep their first clean sheet of the season.

The St Lucian says that he was forced to up his game in training, which led to the performance in the game against Humble Lions.

“Well, it all started at practice. Week in, week out, putting in the work and leading into this game we had a lot of tactics, and I had the biggest role in the team. I had to make sure I came out to get the crosses,” said Barclett.

He underscored the importance of the win in putting the champions nearer to the top of the table. They now sit in fourth place.

“It is very important to us. It is helping us to come up the table and not be so far back. We are catching up, so these three points are very important.”

Barclett says that he has been forced to learn quite quickly how to use his feet in order to play his tactical role in the team.

“It’s going good, it’s very intense. When I came here I was very poor, so now I am picking up. My touches were bad, so I had to be working on my touches with my legs. The quality of players I have, they are outstanding, and I want to reach to their level, so I have to pick up,” he explained.

Barclett knows that he has some very big gloves to fill and is preparing to do just that as the champions seek to defend their title.

“There are a lot of expectations on me because our past ‘keeper Jeadine White, he played a big role in the team and I am a replacement for him, so I have to pick up from where he left off and improve on it,” Barclett noted.

Cavalier will face another youthful team in Harbour View in the feature game at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence at 3:15 pm on Sunday as they go on the hunt for their third win of the season.

— Dwayne Richards