Defending champion JC and St George’s looking to book Manning Cup final spots
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Defending champions Jamaica College (JC) and title favourites St George’s College (STGC) should secure their spots in the Flow ISSA Manning Cup final with victories over Denham Town and Jonathan Grant respectively.
Both semi-final games will be played at Sabina Park, with champions JC in action first at 3:00 pm against a Denham Town team. They are heavily favoured to win.
Despite falling apart against St George’s in the Super Cup final, JC remains a formidable force and should brush aside a Denham Town team and booked yet another berth in the Manning Cup Final.
Denham Town High has taken over as the top school in West Kingston ahead of Tivoli Gardens High, reaching the semi-final in the first time in their history. Last season they were involved negatively in the second round when they crashed 0-16 to JC, conceding six goals in six minutes of time added on. That result prompted an inquiry from ISSA, but nothing came of it.
Now they are back with a glorious chance of avenging that embarrassing loss and write their own history and secure a Manning Cup final spot. Despite the odds against them, Denham Town cannot be written off as evident by the first round victory of St George’s College.
Meanwhile at 5:00 pm, the rampaging St George’s College are overwhelming favourites to get the better of Jonathan Grant High as they continue their hunt for four titles this season.
The Neville Bell-coached boys from North Street have bagged the Super Cup and $1m already plus they are also in the final of the Walker Cup and based on the corporate area dominance over the rural area teams, the Olivier Shield seems to be heading back in Kingston.
But this is football and St George’s College are not home and dried as Jonathan Grant have shown that they can mix it up with the top schools where they advanced from a group involving Charlie Smith, Excelsior and Calabar High.
All things being normal, both JC and STGC should secure their spots in the final of the Manning Cup, setting up another mouth-watering match between the two most successful teams in the last decade and schoolboy football history.
