Bridgeport looking to thwart JC's triple dream

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

Jamaica College (JC) and Bridgeport will both be seeking their second lien on the premier urban area schoolboy knockout football trophy, the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Pepsi/Digicel Walker Cup when they meet in the final today at the Constant Spring Field. Match time is set for 2:30 p.m.

JC, after lifting their first Walker Cup crown last year, will be aiming for back-to-back titles and in the process remain on course for all three senior schoolboy football titles on offer this season. JC on Saturday captured the Manning Cup trophy following an easy 3-0 win over Waterford.

"No Jamaica College team has ever won the Manning Cup and the Walker Cup in the same year ... so that is something that we are trying to achieve right now," JC's assistant coach, Delroy Brown, said. "The boys are really coming out there to put themselves in the history books at Jamaica College," he added.

Met twice this season

JC and Bridgeport, two teams which have met each other twice this season, advanced to the final after securing identical 1-0 victories over Norman Manley and Eltham, respectively. The first meeting between the two teams was in the second round of the Manning Cup, where JC came away 2-0 winners courtesy of goals from Nicholas Scott and captain Ashani Walker.

Their second encounter came in the semi-finals of the Manning Cup, where penalties were required to separate them after they were locked at 0-0 after full and extra time. Ten-man JC went on to triumph 4-1 on penalties.

Despite this being a final, Brown does not expect Bridgeport to be too high a hurdle.

Brown said: "In any final it will be a little bit testing and challenging, I don't really see where we will have a problem with Bridgeport. We should be able to win this match pretty easily, however, we have to go out there and compete."

Bridgeport were also in action on Saturday. They captured third place in the Manning Cup with a 5-4 extra time win over Norman Manley on the back of a hat-trick from captain Jamiel Hardware.

Banking on hardware

Bridgeport's coach, Anthony Patrick, is banking on captain Hardware, who is in his final season to lead them to victory.

"This is the last season for him and he wants some silverware, so he is definitely going to lead from the front," Patrick pointed out. "Everything is on the shoulders of Jamiel Hardware; he can make a difference at anytime. He is in a mean mood; with the mood that he is in at the moment, we have a pretty good chance," he added.

Brown, however, though cognisant of Hardware's ability, does not believe that any one player can break down his team's defence.

"It will take more of a team effort to break us down than an individual. He (Hardware) is a good player but I don't see him being that very effective against us as a team," Brown said.

Patrick believes that the only thing they have to do different from their two previous meetings with JC this season is convert their chances.

"The only thing that we have to do is convert the chances that we are going to create, and once we can convert some of those chances then we have a pretty good chance of coming out on top."