The team has been, as an Englishman would put it, `up and about' during the last few seasons. American mediamen, given to slangs, would say, `the team has had a certain buzz to it.' Both assessments couldn't be more accurate.

Since they entered the third division in 1995, Fr Agnel have made heady progress year after year, till they topped the senior division last season and broke into the super league. And, since they cannot go any higher, the super league is where they intend to stay.

Says coach Jerome Dias, ``Last year, nobody had prepared for us. This season, the big teams have to watch out for us. Our aim is to count among the top five teams in the league.''

Jerome obviously draws strength from the prolific forward line, and a dynamic midfielder in EusebioMascarenhas. Forwards Seby Endro and Agnelo Gomes, the former a junior National, respectively contributed 11 and nine of Agnel's season-high 32 goals last season. The duo will be bolstered by new recruits, Sunil Sachdeva of Customs and Syamalal Ghosh of RCF.

Mascarenhas, whose all-round brilliance earned him a place in the state U-21 squad, pleased critics and opposite coaches with his performance last year.

Jerome confesses his worries are in defence, weakened after junior National Douzy Godinho moved on to Central Railway. The team has recruited four new players from Goa, among them two defenders, but if WIFA does not get the transfers completed on time, they may be forced to warm the benches.

Hoping for the worst, Jerome has increased practice to two sessions of three hours per day. And the coach is talking tough. ``With or without transfers, we want to leave an impression.''

TEAM

Goalkeepers: Roopesh Kamat, Augustinho Rebello

Defenders: Valent Fernandes, Cedric Coelho,Ean Antao, Ashwin Martis, Rawlins D'Souza, Subhash Rathod, Sheldon Coelho, Herald Lobo, Pascal Fernandes, Abraham Jacob.

Midfielders: Theofilo Dias, Jose Kapil Colaco, Prasenjit Sutradhar, Tolomen D'Silva, Eusebio Mascarenhas, Remedios Baretto, Charlie Luis

Attackers: Seby Endro, Agnelo Gomes, Sunil Sachdeva, Syamalal Ghosh, Jose Carvalho.

Coach: Jerome Dias

Technical Director: Fr Orlando Rodrigues