Fearless Manning’s not concerned about rarified air
Near-perfect Dinthill start as favourites daCosta Cup semis to include interesting Clarendon derby
Published:Wednesday | January 12, 2022 | 12:12 AMKavarly Arnold/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
THE FINALIST of the Inter-Secondary Schools’ Sports Association (ISSA) daCosta Cup will be decided in this afternoon’s semi-final double-header at STETHS Sports Complex in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth.
The curtain-raiser at 1 p.m. will see two-time champions Dinthill Technical High School take on The Manning’s School who are looking to reach the finals for the first time in their 283-year-old history.
The second game at 3:15 p.m. will see a Clarendon parish derby with defending champions Clarendon College facing Garvey Maceo High School.
Coach of Dinthill, Oniel Thomas, believes having what he described as their bad game for the season where they failed to score in regulation time for the first time may well be a blessing in disguise. Dinthill defeated Jamaica College 5-4 on penalties to reach the ISSA Champions Cup final after playing out a 0-0 draw in regular time.
“Yes, the mood is high (in the camp) but we have to get them off cloud nine and back to earth. We have to get them back grounded and focused because we didn’t win the cup, we just reached the final. We have to focus on the d’Cup which is just as important,” Thomas said.
“We have been working on a few things we did wrong on Saturday. I think it was our bad game because you see JC played behind the ball and we failed to score or create many chances like we normally do. However, that’s how it is: you have to experience all that can happen in a season to be successful,” he added.
While talk has been around the Linstead-based team’s failure to score, their defence has been surreal and maybe a little scary for opposition. They have scored 25 unanswered goals in nine daCosta Cup games to hold a perfect record and only conceded one goal the entire season in a Champions Cup quarter-final they won 5-1.
At the start of the season, many would not have envisioned The Manning’s School being just one step away from a final. However, their fearless approach has paid off.
Manning’s veteran coach Everton Tomlinson admitted this is going to be the biggest test to date but said they are prepared to play hard and even grind out a result if need be.
While easy on the eye going forward with returns of 28 goals in nine daCosta Cup games so far, the second oldest school in Jamaica will have to be tighter in defence. They have conceded seven goals in those games.
“Our ultimate goal was to win the daCosta Cup from the beginning, so we didn’t focus on the Champions Cup too much. We know it’s going to be tough, they have more experienced players than us and their (Dinthill) results speak for itself, especially with such a splendid defensive record,” said Tomlinson, who is also the president of the Westmoreland Football Association.
We have a young team that is still gelling and performing really well, so we are up for the challenge. If my players are allowed to play as well they can, then I’m sure they can be victorious. I have not seen the team play to our full potential as yet, so I’m hoping they will, although the 1 o’clock sun is not the best condition for this kind of game,” he added.