Vere United picked up their fifth point from their last three games when they played out a 0-0 draw with Portmore United in the Jamaica Premier League on Monday.

That draw took the Clarendon-based team up to 16 points, while they remained in 10th place in the 12-team table.

Despite Vere not taking all three points, their Head Coach Donovan Duckie was quite pleased with what his team was able to achieve.

“I thought we did exceptionally well, despite the conditions. We don’t have the most depth in the Premier League,” he said.

He noted that his team has not recovered from the ravages of the COVID-19 fallout that beset them very early in the campaign.

“Everything that has happened is a result of the COVID-19 protocols. It started about three to four games in the season. We were hit hard. We lost our goalkeeper and four experienced players,” he noted.

With a lack of experience in the squad, Vere was forced to bank on youth, but paid a heavy price.

“We started to trust the youth and we played a goalkeeper without experience for numerous amount of games.

“We lost games through making silly mistakes, but overall, we have been very organised. We have been competitive throughout the games, but we are depleted just like any other team presently, and the season has been taking a toll on the starters and there is no time to recuperate.

“Luckily, we are not playing two games per week, we are pretty much playing on Sundays, so even the result today, we have to be thankful for that,” Duckie said.

Three games unbeaten over the last three match weeks represents the best run of games that Vere United have had this season, something they had hoped for at the start of the campaign and not near the end, as it has happened.

“This is something that we spoke about when we started out the season. We wanted to gain points, build a momentum, feel confident. We have not been able to feel that sort of confidence because of how inconsistent the results were.

“Pretty much, we were winning, losing, losing, winning, drawing, and that was the story. Now we have, for the first time, garnered three consecutive results, three undefeated games, and this is important for the confidence of the players.”

Duckie is hoping that Vere will be able to extend their unbeaten run and start picking up maximum points with the help of their vocal home supporters.

“What we have to look for now is a home game for the next one, where we could come up with a next three points with the support of the home crowd because that paid dividends for us against Arnett Gardens. When we won at home, the support was tremendous.”

“So this is a solid platform that we are building on. We have not yet written off this season, great possibilities still lie ahead for us to go to the top six. We have to be consistent, but we need some three points and we have to stay in it and still be consistent and still persist. Hopefully, we will get some goals going forward since we are now having more clean sheets.”

Duckie will not have the benefit of a home match this weekend, but his players should be just as motivated when they take on Humble Lions in the Clarendon Derby at Effortville starting at 3:00 pm.

— Dwayne Richards