Photo: MIguel Coley (left) coach of Jamaica College and Ludlow Bernard coach of Kingston College will look to guide their respective teams to the next round of the ISSA/FLOW Super Cup with victories in their opening games today at Sabina Park. Jamaica College will face Clarendon College at 5:00pm and Kingston College will face Vere Technical at 7:00pm.
What is expected to be a cracking double header at Sabina Park is set to highlight day two of the ISSA/FLOW Super Cup Kick-Off weekend, this after three teams from the Manning Cup side of the draw and one from the DaCosta Cup section, advanced to the quarter finals on Friday night.
The advancing teams so far are, Excelsior High, Wolmers’ Boys, Bridgeport High and Cornwall College.
At 5:00pm Sabina Park today, Jamaica College will go up against a confident Clarendon College who are yet to advance beyond the first round after two tries.
Jamaica College were the first ever winners of this competition before being dethroned in the finals by St. Georges College last season. With SSTGC missing out this year, a new champion will be crowned and the boys from Old Hope Road intend to be the first school to win the trophy twice.
The Miguel Coley coached team has been almost flawless this season, except for a draw with St. Andrew Technical High School and have been improving with every match played. Coley will be hoping that his captain Oquin Robinson continues his dominance in midfield to guide his team past a hungry and determined Clarendon College. Their raucous supporters are expected to pack into the stadium long before kick-off.
The team from Chapleton have been awesome this season and go into the contest with their tails high. With a coaching duo of Lenworth “Teacha” Hyde and Paul “Tegat” Davis guiding the team in Gold and Blue, the expectations of doing well at the third time of asking is very high. The short drive in to Sabina Park means that there should be no problems with freshness for Clarendon College and sets up this contest quite nicely. Their fans are also expected to turn out in large numbers and Sabina Park is expected to be ‘loud’ ahead of the first whistle.
The feature game at Sabina brings together one of the Manning Cup favourites, Kingston College and a resurgent Vere Technical team that are first timers to this competition.
Kingston College fell at the first hurdle in their debut season last year and aim to do much better this time around. The pressure will be on coach Ludlow Bernard and his boys to do well, with expectations high at the North Street based school. Their fans are expected to flood Sabina Park today as most of them missed the game that was played in Catherine Hall last year. With this venue being a virtual home away from home for KC, the famed Purples will relish the opportunity to play there.
For Vere Technical, the venue for the game will be of little consequence as they look to topple one of the giants of the Manning Cup. Neither their coach nor their players have experienced this competition before and come into the contest with no pressure on them. This should allow Vere to play their natural game as they look to mix it up with their more fancied opponents from the opening whistle. They will be mindful of the Kingston College goal scoring machine, Rashawn “Puddy” Mackison, who has already racked up over 20 goals in all competitions this term.
It has been 41 years since these two teams last met in a schoolboy football game and the confidence will be high in both camps ahead of the 7:00pm kick off.
Over at Catherine Hall the curtain raiser will see defending DaCosta Cup champions St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) take on the losing finalists of the first Super Cup, Holy Trinity High. STETHS will fancy their chances against Holy Trinity but will do well not to underestimate a team devoid of star names. They are one of the sleepers in this tournament and have made the Super Cup a priority competition as they look to honour their fallen teammate, Jordan Foote who died from cancer earlier this year.
STETHS probably represents one of the best chances of a DaCosta Cup team lifting the trophy for the first time and will have a large spectator support to urge them on at the venue as usual. Having seen another DaCosta Cup favourite, Cornwall College, advancing last night, they will be keen to add their name to the list of quarter finalists today.
As usual, Holy Trinity comes into the competition with no pressure despite being there for all three editions. This will suit the Devon Anderson coached team just fine, as they look to carry out another giant killing act, this time out west.
The feature game pits an expectant Rusea’s Technical against the unfancied Haile Selassie team. Both teams make their debut here and with no history to guide them, ventures into the unknown with hope and lots of expectations.
It has been a while since Rusea’s has checked the right boxes in schoolboy football and they will be hoping that this year marks the dawn of a new era of dominance for them.
Haile Selassie were a shadow of themselves in the Walker Cup semi-finals earlier this week and will hope to shrug off that disappointment ahead of this big contest. They do however have internal issues that need to be sorted out ahead of kick-off.
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