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Coach Davis mulls over St George’s comeback

St George's coach Cymande Davis

How struggling St George’s Colts wish they could call on goalkeeper Freddy Hall for a few games.The Dudley Eve semi-finalists have been in a slump which has seen them slip into the bottom two of the Premier Division and face the threat of relegation after three years back in the top division.The Island’s number one ‘keeper, who came up through the St George’s ranks before turning professional in England two years ago, is back on the Island during the MLS off-season where he plays for Toronto.He watched the team’s loss last weekend to Devonshire Cougars and has been at Wellington Oval helping to train the team’s young goalkeepers Zeko Burgess and Charles Marshall, but because of contractual obligations won’t be allowed to turn out for the club.The East Enders enjoyed a good start to the season, beating Cougars and then coming from 2-0 down to draw with Dandy Town in their other group match to advance to the Dudley Eve semi-final.However, they have managed just one win in seven league matches and sit second from last in the standings, six points adrift of third-from-bottom Wolves.Coach Cymande Davis knows the situation could soon become dire for the club and hasn’t ruled out playing for the first time in about four years to lend his experience in the goalkeeping department.St George’s were promoted back to the top flight in 2010 along with neighbours St David’s, who are leading the promotion race in the First Division, possibly replacing St George’s in the Premier Division next season.Davis says the team needs three or four points from their next two games leading up to the Christmas break, trouble is his young team will face two of the league’s top teams — Dandy Town and PHC — in their next two matches.“Honestly they are not responding too good, but the youngsters are still sticking in there,” said Davis who played in a PDL match against BAA on Monday night.“It’s an uphill battle but we had a PDL game the other day and I played in goal so I was able to direct them. I’m just working on keeping our structure.”The team is one of the youngest in the Premier Division, as some of the players who enjoyed some success under former coach Richard Todd the last couple of seasons are missing. The team, Davis stressed, cannot rely on past success.“We’ve been telling them every game, it’s almost become repetitious,” said the coach. “They already know the position we’re in, that we are in a little bit of trouble but two games, six points, and we could be right back in the mix. Points are hard to come by sometimes.“We just have to take one game at a time and concentrate on one game at a time. I feel my senior players have to lead the youngsters but they’re not really leading.“They need to know they are more valuable to the team than not being in the team. Some of my senior players are not stepping up to the plate and it is putting pressure on the youngsters. They are not coming to train twice a week, they may come once but I need twice a week. The youngsters are there and they just need some leadership on the field.”A serious shoulder injury ended his career as a goalkeeper, but Davis is contemplating a return, possibly against his former team, Dandy Town, on Sunday.“After last Sunday I’m not going to let them continue to struggle,” he said. “Every week we have had a different team. We need the points, at least four points in the next two games. That would give us a little more confidence so that I can work on a few more things over the Christmas break.“Freddy has been a fantastic help this last two weeks, he’s a professional and came out of their camp so they look up to him. They take it to heart from him.”