DESPITE the dismal start by Boys’ Town in the 2014-15 Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) season, coach Andrew Price remains confident that his team can turn around their fortune.

Boys’ Town are currently left napping in 10th place on eight points in the 12-team league.

The Collie Smith Drive-based team’s unenterprising start to the league suffered another blow on Wednesday, when they lost their sixth game to Rivoli United 2-0 at the Spanish Town Prison Oval.

However, Price believed that his team showed character in defeat after playing most of the game with 10 players.

“We were always against it, and I believe that playing one man less was always going to be difficult.

But I think we fought valiantly and we could have gotten something out of the game if we weren’t careless in the last 10 minutes,” he lamented.

“But I really like the character that the team showed, they fought with 10 men for the entire second half and with a little bit more luck and proper decision making, we would have really been able to get something out of this game.

“So I am heartened by the performance in the second half, but disappointed that we have lost the game. We just have to get ourselves together and prepare ourselves for the next game which comes on Sunday,” he added.

The veteran coach is optimistic that the ‘Red Brigade’ will soon come out of the relegation zone.

“Though we are quite close to the relegation zone, this team has a lot of quality and we showed it in the second half when we stood up and fought. It’s just about getting it right and I believe that the best is yet to come,” Price told the Jamaica Observer.

Meanwhile, Rivoli United manager Eurado Cornwall hailed his team’s performance as the win moved the St Catherine-based team to 14 points and sixth in the standings.

“The guys played exceptionally well, we were hungry for these three points and for us to stay in the top six… we have to keep on doing what we are doing now.

We have a team that have potential to go far, as the aim is always to win the league,” he told the Observer. In-a-less than spectacular first half, it was Rivoli United who started out more purposefully and signalled their intentions very early against an uncertain-looking Boys’ Town outfit.

The hosts were wellorganised in attack and could have gone in front on numerous occasions, but failed to take advantage of their opponents’ defensive errors. Boys’ Town settled gradually into their game and orchestrated a few good build-ups of their own. They went close in the 18th minute when Peter Keys’ diving header was steered wide by Marlon Henry in goal for Rivoli.

Despite this, the Collie Smith Drive-based team never really established control and frustration eventually set in, claiming a victim in Rafiek Thomas, who was shown a straight red card in the 38th minute for violent conduct. Both teams came out more promising after the break, and the moderate crowd was treated to end-to-end action.

The deadlock would eventually be broken in the 62nd minute when Kemar Beckford cleverly finished off a decent buildup by Ross Burton. The goal added a little spark to the encounter, as Boys’ Town applied consistent pressure in their search for the equaliser.

However, it was not to be as their defensive unit was caught napping allowing substitute Daniel Roberts to seal the win for Rivoli in time added on.