St Jago hunting North Street sweep

St Jago High School's coach Glen Laing and his players are determined to emerge one of the top teams in this year's schoolboy football competitions and so far they have done a very good job.

The Spanish Town-based school finished as the best runner-up in their first-round Manning Cup group and qualified for both the lucrative FLOW Super Cup and Walker Cup competitions.

But despite their good showing in the preliminary round, the second round is where Laing really wants them to make their mark and he believes he has the players, although he has one in particular that he looks to for goals.

Shaqon Bryan netted the opening goal seven minutes into St Jago's surprise 2-0 win over North Street-based Kingston College in the Walker Cup knockout quarter-finals last Friday at the Constant Spring Complex, taking his tally to nine for the season.

Today, St Jago face the blue side of North Street, when they tackle St George's College in the Walker Cup semi-final this afternoon at Constant Spring, and the speedy striker is aiming for more goals. He also knows there is no better way to announce their arrival to the big time than with a win over the mighty George's.

"The aim is always to win, and I always aim for more (goals)," Bryan told The Gleaner.

"We are trying to put St Jago on the map and we are doing that ... . The team has grown a lot, because at the start of the season, we didn't have a few players, but we got them back and the team started working, and now all is well," he added.

The player and the team also have huge confidence in their coach, even though Bryan didn't agree with his part-time substitution role in the first round, he wants to live up to the mantle the coach has handed him in their whole objective.

"We are not finishing a lot of the chances we create, but we are getting there. It's work in-progress. The coach has been telling me that I have the team on my back and that I should carry them forward. I hope to do that as best as possible," he said.