Key clashes today in second-round action

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Jerome Waite, coach of former champions Charlie Smith, said his team will be pulling out all stops when they face Waterford in today's feature match in the second round of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Gatorade/Digicel Manning Cup match at the Spanish Town Prison Oval in St Catherine starting 1 p.m.

In the second match of the double-header at 3 p.m., Bridgeport with their inspirational striker Kemar Philpots, will battle Spanish Town. The Anthony Patrick-coached team won Group G with 20 points.

"We are going there for three points because this will be a big morale booster for us," said Patrick. The long-standing coach added: "There are four groups in the second round this year and so only the winners of the group will go through and so we have to win every game if we are to go through to the semi-finals."

On the other hand, Spanish Town booked their place in the second round, after finishing runners-up in Group E behind winners St George's College.

In the feature game, the unbeaten Charlie Smith, who are one of the favourites for the title, won Group C with 28 points.

"Our expectations are high and all players are fit and ready to go," said Waite.

"All the teams that reach this round of the competition are good teams and so we are not going to underestimate any of them, but we are expecting to do well and dominate the game and collect three points," he said.

Pressure building

Charlie Smith's only defeat of the season was a 1-0 lost to Kingston College in the quarter-finals of the Walker Cup competition, a trophy they were expecting to win.

"There will be a lot of pressure on us going into this round because a lot of people are expecting great from this team this season," Waite said. "But we are not going to let this get to us and so I am just going to concentrate on keeping the players focused on the task ahead of them."

Striker Michaelos Martin, who has netted 15 goals, along with his captain Javoni Simms' 10 goals, will lead Charlie Smith's hunt for success. They are expected to receive support from teammates Omar Price, Andrew Allen and Vishinul Harris.

Waite's opposite Michael Williams said his team has a lot of injury concerns going into this round, but despite this, they are going to give it their best shot.

"We have a lot of injuries going into this round because we have five players out and so we are weak going into the game," said Williams. He added: "However, we are preparing for it because despite the injuries, we still have our backline intact and so hopefully we can come out with a draw from this game."