Cornwall College ready to accept Maldon gift

Western Bureau

CORNWALL COLLEGE (CC) are looking to capitalise on the lifeline they were gifted in their quest to make the second round of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) daCosta Cup football competition when they take on St James High School at Jarrett Park today.

A win for CC would see them leapfrog Maldon, who occupy the second qualification spot in Zone A.

This was made possible after Maldon High School drew 1-1 with St James High on Tuesday in what should have been a must-win game. That result left Maldon just two points ahead of CC. Irwin High School are already through to the next round after getting to an unassailable 24 points at the top of the zone.

Despite not having the best of seasons, CC’s coach Dr Dean Weatherly is hoping they can get the boys in the right frame of mind for what he describes as a ‘final’.

The 12-time champions have lost four matches this season but will take confidence from the fact that they defeated St James High in their home leg last month, even the margin was the solitary goal in the game.

“We have to approach it like a final. It’s all or nothing. We can’t go there leaving anything in the tank. We have to start gunning from early and can’t let up. We need a positive result, a draw or losing can’t help us,” Weatherly said.

“We expect it to be a very tight and hard-fought game. For some of the youths, we have to get the butterflies out of their stomach so they are not too tense. We need them to relax so they can enjoy the game and then we can take it from there,” he added.

Assistant coach of St James High, Michael Reid, noted that they have unfinished business with their zone rivals and are looking to put in another spirited performance.

“St James High is about integrity, so the team is going out there to do our best,” Reid said.

“Cornwall put a damper on our plans this year because it was that defeat that deflated the team morale going into the Green Pond game. We have a score to try and settle so ... .”