Rusea’s open daCosta Cup against Merlene Ottey

WESTERN BUREAU:

ELEVEN-TIME champions Rusea's High School will be looking to kick-start their Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel daCosta Cup campaign in a commanding manner when they host Merlene Ottey High School at the Collin Miller Sports Complex in Lucea this afternoon.

Dwayne Ambusley, coach of Rusea's, wants to start the season with a win as they look forward to a better showing, after having a disastrous tournament last season. They have failed to get past the second round of the daCosta Cup since their title-lifting 2017 campaign.

Rusea's have exhibited good form throughout the preseason as they attempt to prevent a repeat of last season when they failed to advance beyond the first round, which they blame on poor preparation.

"We are optimistic and looking forward to a wonderful season especially based on what happened last season. The first game is always important to start the season on a winning note.

"We don't know much about Merlene Ottey, who are just coming back into the competition after two years out. In football, you can't take anything for granted. We just have to go out there and play our best. We have to look to exploit the opponents' weaknesses, look to improve on a few areas ourselves and have a good game," Ambusley said.

Assistant coach of Merlene Ottey High, Ainsley Donaldson, said they are optimistic about the season and are looking for a positive start against one of the perennial giants.

"It's a pretty young team but the ball is round so we are hoping to play some good football. We have to start with a positive result. The boys are motivated to do their best, so anything can happen but we know we will have to get out one of those big teams who are always leaving the zone.

"They (players) are very happy about it because most of them have been playing football from primary school. They look forward to the opportunity of playing in the daCosta Cup, which is a dream for them. Coming out of COVID it's really a good thing for them to be exposed to some external football," Donaldson said.