Hyde praises fast start for Olivier Shield win
Published:Thursday | December 15, 2022 | 1:39 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
CLARENDON COLLEGE’S (CC) sixth hold on the ISSA Olivier Shield trophy came on account of starting quickly says their coach, Lenworth Hyde.
Playing at the Stadium East Sports Complex yesterday against Jamaica College (JC), daCosta Cup champions CC were 3-0 winners thanks to goals from Marques Reid in the 20th minute, Devonti Hodges in the 22nd, and man-of-the-match Keheim Dixon in the 84th.
CC, who, as Hyde suggested, started the brighter of the two, were sent on their way when the silky smooth Reid pounced upon a goalkeeper error from Rassico Rose to slot home from close range.
Another defence lapse two minutes later would come when a Romain Blake clearance fell to the feet of defender Devonti Hodges, whose powerful shot from outside the box proved too difficult to stop.
A third error would see Dixon break away from his marker before gracefully slotting home his effort with just the goalkeeper to beat.
“Wow! I’m feeling elated and happy! We played with a lot of discipline, sacrifice, and you saw the results of that tonight because we came out and put on a big-time performance. I must lift my hat to the players. This is the most disciplined set of players I’ve coached,” said Hyde.
The experienced coach revealed that he holds the Olivier Shield in very high regard, having won it as a player.
“From my time, 1977 with Coach Winston Chung-Fah. He always told me that this is the pinnacle of schoolboy football. I love the dacosta Cup. It’s a nice competition for the school, but it’s the Olivier Shield, the winner of rural against the winner of urban. Tonight, we played a high-press game because we started this match in third gear, and from we started to pass the ball, it’s over,” Hyde said.
According to Davion Ferguson, JC coach, winning the treble, Manning Cup, Champions Cup and Olivier Shield was his ultimate goal, but his team was just too tired.
“We have the Manning Cup and the Champions Cup, but we really wanted the Olivier Shield, but it wasn’t to be. Today you saw two teams, one having 11 days of rest and the other with just three days’ rest,” he said.
Still, Ferguson says he did not want to take anything away from CC’s victory.
“Clarendon College are a good team, and in my mind, they are the deserving winners,” he said.
“Mentally, we were fatigued. It was a long season, and to put what we put on the board all season was difficult, and today, we asked one more of them, but they didn’t have it in them,” said the JC coach, now in his third year at the helm.