After only one season at the helm of St.George?s Cricket Club, coach George Cannonier has certainly proven to have the Midas touch ? in terms of winning championships.

Last Saturday ? albeit in anti-climactic fashion ? the East Enders were crowned Two?Day League champions after opposing finalists and neighbouring rivals St.David?s forfeited their bowl-off at Somerset Cricket Club, thus ending a six?year trophy drought at Wellington Oval and giving Cannonier success at the first attempt.

Though, at times, St.George?s have struggled this season, particularly in batting, they still managed to maintain their status as one of the Island?s top teams, finishing third in the Limited Overs League and sustaining only three losses all season ? twice in limited overs play (against champions Western Stars and St.David?s) and in the Belco Cup semi-finals to eventual winners Stars.

St.George?s remained undefeated in two?day play.

But even more success beckons as the East Enders, not long ago a powerhouse in domestic cricket, have booked a date with Willow Cuts in next week?s Premier Division Knockout Final, tentatively slated for Lord?s. The occasion will mark Cuts? second successive appearance in what has now become the traditional season-finale.

So what was it which has helped to rekindle the flame at St.George?s this summer?

As Cannonier stressed: ?Team work, camaraderie among the players and key personnel in vital positions.?

?It was just a matter of getting the players to think ?team?. I continually emphasised this and eventually it seemed to have sunk in,? explained Cannonier, widely considered as one of the Island?s top coaches.

?Eventually it sunk in and the guys managed to reach the potential I always knew they were capable of reaching. They played as a team and they went out there and played to win.?

As is the case with most things in life, success, said Cannonier, did not come without its share of challenges.

?There were times when things were down and we lost a couple of games which I felt we should have won,? he added. ?But I hardly expected to go through the season ? even though I stressed to the players that we could ? undefeated (in two-day play) because we didn?t have too much to work with and we don?t have any real big name players.

?But certain guys were able to put their heads down and it just all came together. Although we scrambled through a few games, once we realised we could beat other teams, the players wanted to put in more training and pay attention.

?And somewhere along the way, the guys realised they could achieve something in this league. We did set goals earlier in the season; to win the league and I always felt that if I could stop the guys from bickering among themselves then we could achieve some success.?

Having now savoured the sweet taste of success in his first term, Cannonier hopes to build on a solid foundation.

?I am nowhere near finished,? he quickly pointed out. ?Now that I have a foot in the door and we have some younger players coming along, I feel that I can do an even better job with them.

?It?s a pretty hectic job but I consider myself as a modern sort of coach. I believe in modern and past training methods and my thing is you must work together as a team.?

Cannonier also attributed the contributions of assistant coach Herbie Bascome, team manager Barry Sousa, club sports chairman Lewis (Bussy) Foggo and president Neil Paynter towards the team?s success.

He added: ?Team is what does it. If you can?t pull together as a team, then you aren?t going to make solely on individual efforts.?

St.George?s sports chairman Foggo concurred.

He stressed: ?That?s what did it (teamwork) for us. Basically everybody played a part in our success this season. If you look at our team we don?t really have any big name batsmen in the team and so it was a combined team effort that got us through.?

Like Cannonier, Foggo is also predicting brighter things to come for St.George?s ? albeit in a cautious manner.

?Yes, I believe we have a good future ahead of us but at the same time our youngsters have to step up and play a bigger part and not just show up to play,? he added.

?Some of our youngsters are just showing up and expecting to be a part of the programme. But it?s going to take more than that and hopefully this success will motivate them. Theoretically it should. However recent experiences have shown me otherwise. But we at St.George?s plan to bring them along and motivate them to hunger for the success they can and possess the potential to achieve.?