Olivier Shield final brings back flashes of 2019
Published:Wednesday | December 14, 2022 | 12:56 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
WITH A rematch three years in the making, Jamaica College (JC) and Clarendon College (CC) will close the 2022 schoolboy football season to decide all-island supremacy, in the ISSA Olivier Shield final this afternoon at 5 p.m. at Stadium East Field.
It will be a rematch of the 2019 final where Clarendon College took the title back to rural territory in dramatic fashion, scoring an equaliser with the last kick of regulation time to force a penalty shootout.
JC, who captured their 31st Manning Cup title two weeks ago, added the Champions Cup title on Saturday, defeating Kingston College 2-1, and are on course to complete a treble-winning season for the first time since 2017. Clarendon College are hoping to complete the double after a season where they regained the daCosta Cup title two weeks ago.
CC head coach Lenworth Hyde hopes that the late-game heroics that saw them lift the Shield three years ago will be unnecessary. But he knows that JC will be as formidable and difficult as they were three years ago.
“JC has a well-rounded squad and a good coach. You see what they have been doing all season. We are looking for a tough game. But on the other hand, we have been preparing well for this one. This is the big one. The champions of the Manning Cup vs the champions of the daCosta Cup and we are looking forward to it,” Hyde told The Gleaner.
In a season that has been about reclaiming titles, Hyde is hoping that the Shield will complete a strong season after losing the daCosta Cup title earlier in the year.
“We lost to KC in the Champions Cup and JC defeated KC (in the final) so it would be good if we could beat JC. It’s the pinnacle of schoolboy football and we are hell-bent on getting it,” Hyde said.
While Ferguson does remember the aftermath of the final where he thought that his team did not deserve to lose in the manner they did, he was focused on how determined this group of players are to finish the season with every trophy on offer.
oPPORTUNITY TO WIN
“This is a new group. Only one person from 2019 that is still a part of what we do now. The memory is not necessarily present but the opportunity to win any other silverware is what motivates us to finish the season strong,” Ferguson said.
It would be a personal accomplishment for Ferguson in his third season in charge. But he has never been concerned about personal success but more about the team’s success.
“The focus has been more about them than about myself as a coach because for me, I always put in the work, and at the end of the day I leave others to do the talking. So we want to focus on putting in the work. The team would have done a lot. What is imperative is that they end the season on a high,” Ferguson said.
JC are searching for their 23rd Olivier Shield while Clarendon College are hunting for title number six.