Schoolboy football season kicks off - Spotlight on Montego Bay triple-header

Western Bureau:

An interesting triple-header at the Montego Bay Sports Complex this afternoon will highlight the start of the 2016 ISSA/FLOW daCosta and Manning Cup competitions.

Twenty-four daCosta Cup and 14 Manning Cup matches are scheduled for the opening day of the highly anticipated season.

In Montego Bay, Manning Cup champions Jamaica College will face St Andrew Technical at 2:45 before defending daCosta Cup champions St. Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) meet Black River High at 4:30 p.m. followed by an all-Montego Bay fixture between Cornwall College and Anchovy High which is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m.

JC are seeking a fourth consecutive hold on the Manning Cup title. Last year they completed the 'three-peat' with a 1-0 win over St George's College. They will enter today's contest as the overwhelming favourites over a St Andrew Technical team which has not been among the top schools in recent years.

STETHS will take on a young and inexperienced Black River in the feature encounter. Black River are in the competition after a one-year break but coach Kirk Williams says they are optimistic about their chances against STETHS.

"We are a very young team just coming back into the daCosta Cup competition after a year out, but we are here to fight," coach Williams told The Gleaner.

"This team is a good but young one. The squad does not have the level of experience we would have liked, but we are using this as a building block for the future. We hope to acquit ourselves well and see where it leaves us at the end of it all," stated Williams.

STETHS, on the other hand, are awash with talent and experience and having ticked-off five consecutive finals appearance, winning twice. They have been listed among the favourites once again and should leave Montego Bay with three points.

Omar Wedderburn, the philosophical STETHS coach, knows his team will not have it easy, starting against Black River, but points to his team's ability to overcome challenges.

"The mission is set. We are ready and our aim is just as it always has been to win another title for STETHS," Wedderburn who guided them to the title in 2013 and 2015 said.

Other scheduled daCosta Cup matches

Cedric Titus vs Holland

Spot Valley vs Herbert Morrison Tech

William Knibb vs Muschett

Petersfield vs Maud McLeod

Mannings vs Little London High

Grange Hill vs Godfrey Stewart

Holmwood vs Alston

Spalding vs Christiana

May Day High vs Bellefield

Knox College vs Clarendon College

Horace Clarke vs St. Mary Tech

Iona High vs Brimmervale

Ewarton vs McGrath

Port Antonio vs Fair Prospect

Happy Grove vs Titchfield

Bustamante vs Vere Tech

Tacius Golding vs Kemps Hill

Old Harbour vs Central High

Morant Bay vs Paul Bogle

St. Thomas Tech vs Robert Lightbourne

Yallahs vs Seaforth

St. Mary High vs Tacky

MANNING CUP

Denham Town vs Norman Manley

Ascott vs Papine

St. Mary's College vs Kingston College

Jonathan Grant vs Ardenne

Haile Selassie vs Pembroke Hall

St Catherine vs Meadowbrook

Dunoon vs Kingston Technical

Jose Marti vs Camperdown

Edith Dalton vs Wolmer's Boys

Campion College vs St Jago

Calabar vs Bridgeport

Hydel vs Cumberland

Matches kick off at 3:30 p.m.