Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
Tivoli's Allen and Calabar's Smith
TIVOLI GARDENS and Calabar, having earned the right to battle for schoolboy football knockout supremacy by virtue of huge semi-final wins, will now face-off in a winner-take-all ISSA/Pepsi/JN Walker Cup showdown at the National Stadium come 3:00p.m. today.
The manner in which they both easily dispatched their opponents en-route to the finals of the competition Calabar with a 4-1 thrashing of Wolmer's and Tivoli a 4-0 trampling of Charlie Smith sets the table for a fiery clash between the competition's highest-scoring teams.
Finding the back of the net has certainly not been a problem for any of them so far this season. Calabar have done so 41 times in the Manning Cup so far, but Tivoli are not far behind them with 39 goals.
The boys from west Kingston are yet to be beaten this season. Pushed from midfield by inspirational captain Jermaine Allen, coupled with the dangerous Richard Stern and Michael Spence up front, they can at times prove to be an unstoppable strike force.
Despite the threat of the high-powered Tivoli offence, Calabar coach David Hunt will be concentrating on his team.
VERY GOOD TEAM
"Tivoli are a very good team and we cannot take them lightly. However, my main concern is that we are ready when we go out on the pitch," he remarked.
"The Calabar team is focused and I expect us to play another very good game in the finals," he said.
There is no doubt that a super fit and very speedy Calabar team will be Tivoli's sternest challenge to date.
Much as they did against Jamaica College, they may at times struggle with the sheer physical nature of the Calabar team who are certainly more robust in stature. Driven forward by the lightning quick Lennox Creary, who has recently returned to the team, the pace at which Calabar constantly plays could also prove to be a problem. But this is a problem that Tivoli coach Dave Clarke is only too aware.
"If you compare our players to theirs, they are a lot bigger than us. As a school that also does traditionally well in track and field, they are also a quick bunch," he commented.
"But we are very aware of this fact. We are a team known for keeping the ball and they cannot attack us if we do that. We have been playing very good football and we intend to keep that trend going come today. They are the big favourites, we will not be under any pressure going out there," he said.
