WHILE he says he has no idea who will start in goal when the ISSA daCosta Cup football competition kicks off next month, Frome Technical’s Head Coach Cleighton Stephens is positive about their prospects.

Last season Frome Technical advanced to the quarter-final round in the daCosta Cup and got as far as the semi-finals of the Ben Francis Cup. And Stephens, who described the school as “a Westmoreland giant”, says they have taken on the responsibility of flying the flag for the parish.

“This season I have a mixture of young and senior players, not as many seniors like previous years,” he tells the
Sunday Observer. “I think I retained probably 10 out of a squad of 25 from last year.”

Tyreese Thompson has been keeping goal for the duration of the preseason and in all games on Saturday, but Stephens said the player is really an attacking outfield player who they were trying to convert into a goalkeeper.

“We have an issue in goal,” he says of Wayne Mullings, one of their top goalscorers. “We are still mixing and searching for a goalkeeper. You would be surprised that the guy in the goal right now, he is a striker, so we are wrapping our heads around it. He is a goalkeeper striker, centre half, central midfield, but I need him in the middle of the park. So, when the season starts I don’t know what I will do, but I have to do something.”

Stephens says they have been working hard to find a solution.

“I’m working on it, to be honest, if I find the goalkeeper,” he says. “I’m looking to go as far as the semi final, or even the final, because we have a good team and we have a lot of players who can make it happen.”

Frome Technical were beaten 2-1 by Cornwall College in the final of the Montego Bay United schoolboys’ invitational played at the Montego Bay Sports Complex, snapping a three-game winning run that also included a 1-0 win over Maldon High in the semi-finals.

– Paul A Reid

Cleighton Stephens, Frome Technical football head coach