St Georges' captain Jermaine Taylor (right) meets the ball ahead of Tivoli Gardens' Owen Powell during the Digicel Premier League (DPL) End-of-Round final at the National Stadium recently. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

One is a robust, composed defensive promise who has represented Jamaica at the international level and is now enjoying one of his most impressive seasons of football, while the other is, well, not quite different after all.

The St Georges pair of Jermaine Taylor and Ricardo Taylor have been the defensive bastions of a club that has managed to defy all the forecast for the Digicel Premier League season; in the process only conceding five goals all season so far.

For these two biological brothers who were born a year apart, playing together in the top flight is like a dream come true.

Twenty-five year-old Jermaine, the older of the two, has led by example and has experienced a renaissance of sorts, following an inactive season last year due to issues with his then club, Harbour View. Having been asked to captain his hometown team, the older Taylor knows very well that he is also expected to continue grooming his sibling who, like himself, has represented the country at the Under-17 and Under-20 levels.

top-flight football

Jermaine, who is now travelling with the other members of Jamaica's senior football team for their friendly international against South Africa, spoke about playing top-flight football with his brother by his side and also about his eagerness to learn and develop.

"It's a good feeling. As you know, I have been out since the last season. It's the first time playing with him at the senior team level. He used to be with me at Harbour View but he played with the Under-21 team back then, but playing with him at St Georges is a great experience," said Jermaine. "He listens and does his best all the time and I try to guide him during game time and also during training sessions. He's a good player who is willing to listen, and once he continues to work hard and listen then his game will continue to develop naturally."

Ricardo, in the meantime, while excited to be playing with his brother, says it feels like something they have been doing for years, probably because they have. The two have played together at various age-group levels, but it is in the DPL that their almost telepathic understanding is being displayed to all.

overseas contract

"Its not a big difference really, even if it's the first time we are playing together at the top flight and also at home here at St Georges, so it's a little more comfortable," said Ricardo, who has ambitions to represent his country and secure an overseas contract.

"We have been playing together from we were very small so it's like we are doing what we have been doing all this time. We play well together and now that we are in the Premier League it's no different," he added.

"We do train a lot together - in terms of style of play we have some similarities. We both work together very well and we have a good understanding of each other," Jermaine stated before speaking about his team's Cinderella season.

"It took a lot of hard work and dedication, discipline and sacrifice. A lot of people did not expect us to be in this position and it's a good feeling for the players, club and fans, it's good for the community," he closed.