Mount Alvernia not a one-person team - But coach says 45-goal forward’s health still crucial

Dabain Brown, coach of Mount Alvernia High School’s football team, applauded the performance of his girls, led by topscorer Dannique Wilson, after picking up wins for the first time at the quarter-final group stage of the ISSA Schoolgirl Football Competition.

This left them with a chance to make the elusive semi-finals, depending on the result of today’s rescheduled game between St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and Holmwood.

In their quarter-finals run, the girls from Montego Bay dismissed Glenmuir 4-0, where Wilson scored a brace before leaving the field injured.

They lost their second game to Holmwood 3-0, before defeating STETHS 3-1 last Thursday.

“We have progressed really well in the space of two years. For this season, we emphasised more on ball movement in training and the transition from defence to attack. The progress from last year to this season has been excellent, we scored a lot more goals. We got to the second round, won two games and lost one, but still have a chance. I’m proud of the girls; it’s a big improvement,” Brown said.

Brown said the injury to Wilson, who has 45 goals for the season, was a huge blow for them. But he said that he is proud of the way the team bounced back against STETHS.

He admitted that the fitness of their top scorer will be crucial if they should advance to the semi-finals, where they would have to battle defending champions Excelsior, who are yet to concede a goal.

“Huge blow, it’s very difficult to replace a 45 goalscorer for the season,” Brown said. “We went to Holmwood, the conditions were terrible for my girls with the weather and everything. Found ourselves 3-0 down in the first half. I spoke to them at half-time, they dug deep, got back a goal but it was then ruled out which caused us to not get back more in the game.”

Brown said that with Wilson still out against STETHS, what impressed him was that the players went out and won the game.

“This showed that it’s not a one-person team and I love that for us to now be in a position where we can qualify,” he said. “This year her (Dannique) game has evolved. Through the preseason, we worked on her incorporating her teammates more, which resulted in her not scoring a lot more goals. If we should make it to the semi-finals and we get her at least 80 to 90 per cent fit, ... knowing Dannique and the team, we can possibly spoil that for them.”