When Mount Pleasant Football Academy face Cavalier in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) final this evening, midfielder Leonard Rankine will be coming up against familiar foes.

Rankine, who recently returned to Mount Pleasant’s midfield after a lengthy absence recovering from knee surgery, is a former Cavalier player.

Unfortunately for him, he left Cavalier for Mount Pleasant in January 2020, just a year before Cavalier became national champions for the second time in their history.

Now, for his own opportunity at glory, and for Mount Pleasant’s first national title, he must get by opponents who know as much about him as he does about them.

“To be honest, I just want to go out there and get the job done and get the victory so my team can win its first Premier League title and I can win my first Premier League title,” Rankine told the Jamaica Observer during a training session on Wednesday.

But while he wants to get the better of Cavalier, he still holds a deep respect for the club as he says it and its Technical Director Rudolph Speid put him on the map in Jamaican football.

“To me, that man [Speid] will always be a part of my life because of what he has done for me,” he said. “Playing for Cavalier is what put me on the radar in Jamaica and people got to know me better. That club is a club that I still love, so going up against them, I just hope my team can come out on top.”

Rankine says he is also still good friends with Cavalier’s Kyle Ming, with whom he will be directly battling in midfield, and also attacker Ronaldo Webster.

Rankine says he had a difficult return to action because of fitness issues and weight gain after surgery. His return has, however, been fruitful, scoring four goals in as many games. The first of these was in the JPL quarter-final first leg against Dunbeholden, then a brace in the second leg. He also scored against Arnett Gardens in the first leg of their semi-final clash.

“I had a lot of ups and downs throughout the season,” he said. “I came off the bench in the quarter-final first leg and scored a goal then in the second leg I got a double. In the semi-final, I got another one and I’m just happy for myself and for my team at the moment, knowing that we’re into our first Premier League final. My confidence went from zero to 100 because of the goals.”

Rankine, like Ming, is from Westmoreland and is motivated by his upbringing in western Jamaica to win the title. He says he is also doing it for his mother.

“I got my start growing up in Westmoreland, going to Premier League games and watching Reno play,” Rankine said. “I used to be the ball boy for that club, and I grew up playing for that club and made it to the Premier League level playing for that club so I would say being around the Reno team brought me here.

“I’m also doing this for my uncle who passed away — Donovan Dunkley, he played for Seba with [Mount Pleasant Head Coach Theodore] Whitmore.”