Kingston College (KC) and Jamaica College (JC) will be seeking the double when both schools meet in today’s ISSA Burger King under-16 and under-14 finals at the Stadium East field.
The under-14 final kicks off at 2 p.m., two hours before the under-16 players take the field in the feature match.
JC’s U16 coach Raymond ‘Stampy’ Watson said they are the underdogs but he expects a good showing from his team.
“KC (with several national players) are favourites, so the onus will be on them to deliver, but we are JC, and we will compete.
“We have exceeded expectations. Nobody expected us to be here. We struggled but found a way to get here and we will put up a show.”
Both teams met in the quarterfinal round, with KC coming away 1-0 winners, but Watson said it would be different this time.
“In a final anything can happen as it’s a one-off game. What happened in the quarterfinals is of no importance. Now it’s not at their home, so they won’t be as comfortable. We will approach the game a bit different and, hopefully, take our chances.”
Watson, KC’s most successful youth coach, is also a former student at the North Street-based school, but he said despite his long affiliation with KC, his aim is to deliver for Jamaica College today.
“Myself and Wayne Palmer (the U14 coach) have won the most youth (school) titles. So it’s the two older heads against two upcoming coaches.
“It (double) would be great, but both schools want it, and I am confident my players will turn up. So I am only focused on one thing: to get JC over the line.” he said.
KC’s coach, Jermaine Miller, a former assistant to Watson, said he was aware of how his counterpart thinks and was fully prepared for whatever he might throw at them.
“We are looking forward to this. When we played them (quarterfinal), we just needed a point to secure qualification.
“It was strange to see them come out in a medium to low block, which afforded us less opportunities than we had in previous games. So we had to make some adjustments, and it was good for us because the following game, Mona came out with a similar approach in the semi-final, and we found the solution.
“They can do the same thing, or they can decide to come and press, but we are fully prepared for that,” he said.
JC’s hopes will rest on Cavalier’s Jamaica Premier League and national U17 player Tevin Savage.
Although KC will be missing national U17 striker Kelvin Brown, they have a host of other players to rely on.
In the U14 final, KC will look to striker Owayne Feautado (20 goals) while JC’s main player will be Namar Franci, who has 11 goals.
