ON a day when his teammates let themselves down badly, captain Donovan Ricketts was easily the Reggae Boyz’s star player against Honduras.

He was beaten inside 10 minutes, and again when sold short with a back pass by Daniel Gordon, which allowed Roger Rojas to ghost in a steal the ball before rounding the Portland Timbers goaltender to make the game safe.

He was spared by Alvas Powell, who cleared a ball off the goal line with less than five minutes played, but kept Jamaica in the game with steady hands and good reflexes in the second half.

The two-time MLS All-Star goalkeeper while at the LA Galaxy, who turned 36 last Friday, was seen on a few occasions remonstrating with his charges, and he even received a yellow card in the 77th minute for his vehement protest of teammate Adrian Mariappa’s innocence after the defender received a straight red card for a challenge in which he appeared to played the ball cleanly before his momentum took him into the player.

Just before that Ricketts was at his brilliant best when he threw himself to his right to palm away a firm header from a right side cross. Had it not been for him, the score line could have been wider.

As professional, Ricketts never played a game at Bolton Wanderers and instead moved to Bradford City initially on a year-long loan in July 2004. He spent most of his first season in English football as understudy to Australian Paul Henderson before he finally made his debut in April 2005 and played in the final four games.

During the season break he signed permanently on a two-year deal keeping him at City until 2007. He missed nine games because of a broken foot early in the 2005-06 season and was replaced by Russell Howarth. He regained his place against Port Vale, before he again missed a game in December 2005 after he was sent off for celebrating a City goal in a game at Southend United. He was immediately recalled to the side following his suspension, and played the following 80 league games, including as ever-present in the 2006-07 season.

On December 23, 2008, Los Angeles Galaxy announced they had signed Ricketts for the 2009 Major League Soccer season. Ricketts also attracted interest from Canadian side Toronto FC but he opted to join Los Angeles on the advice of his international colleague Tyrone Marshall, who had played for both sides.

Ricketts enjoyed a successful first season in Major League Soccer under Bruce Arena, leading the Galaxy to the Western Division title. His squad successfully reached the 2009 MLS Cup Final. In that championship final, he sustained a mid-game injury and was replaced by back-up goalkeeper Josh Saunders. Saunders filled in well, considering Ricketts started most of the games in the ’09 season, but it was not enough to fend off Real Salt Lake, who won via penalties.

In 2010, Ricketts was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. Ricketts did not play most of the 2011 season due to injury, and was replaced by Saunders again while his team won the 2011 MLS Cup.

On November 28, 2011 the Montreal Impact acquired Ricketts from the Los Angeles Galaxy in exchange for allocation money. Ricketts was protected in MLS Expansion Draft, necessitating a trade to acquire his services.

On August 7, 2012, Ricketts was traded to the Portland Timbers, where he plays currently, for veteran USMNT goalkeeper Troy Perkins. He made his debut on August 15, 2012, in a 2-2 Draw versus Toronto FC.