No vengeance, just ambition

Kingston College’s (KC) head coach Ludlow Bernard, and Lenworth Hyde, the head coach at Clarendon College, have said that history will not dictate the approach to their ISSA Championship Cup semi-final clash today at 1 p.m. at the Stadium East field.

The paths of both teams will cross again in a rematch of the 2019 Champions Cup final where Kingston College prevailed 1-0, ensuring that their schoolboy football season did not finish without silverware.

Bernard says that, regardless of the history, the strength of both teams should provide enough intrigue to overshadow motivations from their past encounter.

“That (2019 title win) may be a factor in the grand scheme of things. When they defeated us in the 2018 Olivier Shield final, it served as a motivation for us in 2019 and I’m sure Clarendon College would want to take some kind of revenge,” Bernard told The Gleaner. “(But) two years would have elapsed. Some of that lustre would have dissipated but Kingston College versus Clarendon College doesn’t need that much of a storyline to get going.”

For Hyde, there are no thoughts of avenging that 2019 defeat. He is more focused on capturing the only piece of silverware that the school hasn’t claimed.

MOTIVATIONAL FACTOR

“We don’t deal with revenge. It is a title that we haven’t won yet, and that alone is a motivational factor for us. We want to try and put our hands on it. That’s how we are approaching it and we are going out there with our best foot forward and try to get a good result,” Hyde said. “(It’s) two quality teams who play good football. (KC) have a good coach in Bernard and they play attractive football and we will try to do that also. That is why this matchup is so exciting.”

KC are coming into the semi-final having scored 20 goals so far in all competitions this year. However, he says that he is counting on his team to continue being strong defensively. They have only conceded one goal so far this season.

“At the end of the day, I am probably depending on my defensive organisation to carry me through, because that is what usually wins championships,” Bernard said. “I figure that we have quite a bit of homework to do this time around. But we are looking forward to a very good match.”

Meanwhile, Jamaica College will face first-time semi-finalists Dinthill Technical in the second game of the doubleheader at 3:15 p.m. Dinthill head coach Oneil Thomas says that his team are eager and ready for an opportunity that he feels they have earned.

“We feel elated to know that it is the first time that we are going to be there but we are still coming to play good football straight to the end. We proved ourselves from the outset of training to prepare for this kind of task that we have,” Thomas said. “We will not change to anything different. We will just play the kind of football that we have practised and prepared to play.”

Dinthill Technical defeated St Andrew Technical 5-1 en route to the semi-finals, while JC reached the final four by beating Garvey Maceo High 1-0 in the quarter-finals.

daniel.wheelergleanerjm.com

Champions Cup Semi-final fixtures at Stadium East

Kingston College vs Clarendon College – 1:00 p.m.

Dinthill Technical vs Jamaica College – 3:15 p.m.