Champions Cup: Injury concerns for Dinthill ahead of clash with KC
Published:Saturday | November 18, 2023 | 12:08 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
New champions will be crowned in the 2023 ISSA Champions Cup competition and Linstead-based Dinthill Technical are hopeful that their name will be etched on the trophy and in the process becoming the third daCosta Cup team, after Cornwall College and Clarendon College, to achieve the feat.
Dinthill will lock horns against last season’s beaten finalists Kingston College (KC) in a 3 p.m. fixture at the National Stadium today. Ahead of their fixture, Oneil Thomas, head coach of Dinthill, stated that the bad weather in Jamaica has affected his preparations.
“The recent rains have affected our training because where we are based the rain is pouring. We haven’t done any form of training since we played on Tuesday, but we are still in playing condition and we will just have to play,” he stated.
Dinthill are also in the semi-finals of the ISSA/daCosta Cup competition which he believes is of paramount interest to their schoolboy season. However, while some of his key figures are nursing injuries coach Thomas revealed that this might give some of his younger players the opportunity to showcase their talent.
“Playing in the Champions Cup is important, but secondary to us as a team. We are also nursing some injuries within the camp but the guys are up for it and they want to play so we will be using some of our under-16 players,” he explained.
The experienced coach also highlighted the fact that he believes the recent 2-1 defeat to B. B. Coke in the quarterfinals of the daCosta Cup was a wake-up call for the players to ensure that they finish their season on the right note.
“So far, the season has been challenging with its ups and down. We lost our first game of the season in our last game against B. B. Coke and I think that will wake us up. I think that will help us to do a better job finishing off our season,” he added.
As for their opponents KC, coach Thomas said that while he’s seen some footage of them he’s focusing on what his players can do on the field and trust that his instructions will be followed which will allow Dinthill to be a force to be reckoned with.
“I have seen some footages of KC and I think they’re a fighting team just like our team. We (coaches) work on our team and believe in our system and as long as we get that correct and apply ourselves on the field then I think we’ll be a force to be reckoned with,” he concluded.
KC who lost 2-1 to Jamaica College in last year’s Champions Cup final have been in fair form recently in the Manning Cup. In the quarterfinals they gained four points to advance to the semi-finals ahead of St Catherine High who had an inferior goal difference.
Today’s matches
2 p.m: Hydel vs Garvey Maceo (St Elizabeth Technical)
4:15 p.m: Mona vs Glenmuir (St. Elizabeth Technical)
3 p.m: Dinthill Technical vs Kingston College (National Stadium)
5:15 p.m: Clarendon College vs St. George’s College (National Stadium)