SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) made a stuttering start to their ISSA/FLOW daCosta Cup campaign, drawing 1-1 with minnows Maggotty High at their Santa Cruz base on Saturday.

But coach Omar Wedderburn reckons this stalemate might just turn out to be the ideal way to kick off their season.

The result means STETHS, last season’s runners up and the reigning Ben Francis Cup champions, trail early leaders Lacovia High (three points) by two points in Zone E, while sharing a point apiece with Magotty, Munro College and BB Coke.

Yet Wedderburn, recognising that the competition is still in the embryonic stage, praised his team for a good showing — noting that this could be their early wake up call.

“We wanted to get three points,” said Wedderburn, “because to have championship mentality you always want to start with a win. But it is always better to share a point than none at all, so I want to congratulate the players for their performance in the first game of the season.

“Some of them,” he continued, “were playing for the first time and, based on the season that we have planned, they can only get better going forward.”

And this, he added, “will be a test of character.”

“So maybe this is really a good way to start the season because they (the players) will know from early that it will not be easy. We will have to come out every day and fight for what we want.”

Maggotty coach, in the meantime, was also pleased with his team’s effort, which he is hoping they can maintain in their next game.

“The guys did well today,” said Donovan Stone. “It was a tactical battle. They won the first half and we fought back in the second and gained the ascendency.”

Maggotty is scheduled to host Munro in their next game on Wednesday, with STETHS travelling to Lacovia.

— Oshane Tobias