By LeVaughn Flynn, Staff ReporterST. JAGO will have the chance to justify Danny Hawthorne's claim of them being "the best team" when they meet Norman Manley in the final of the Walker Cup Knockout competition at Ferdie Neita Park today at 2:45 p.m.
Hawthorne, St. Jago's coach, made the bold statement after thrashing Tivoli 4-0 in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
Although many describe the Walker Cup as a 'make up' competition for not advancing in the Manning Cup, today's game has a lot of meaning.
The eventual winner will earn bragging rights and will prove which team is truly better as the first time these teams met they were deadlocked at 0-0 after 90 minutes.
Hawthorne's statement, however, does have some merit as his team holds the most impressive stats. They have won 14 of their 15 games, with Norman Manley being the only team to hold them to a draw in their first meeting in the second round of the Manning Cup.
In the Manning Cup and Walker Cup combined, they have a season record of 44 goals, allowed just one goal and possess a line-up of lethal strikers such as Mark Miller (tied for most goals this year 16 with Titchfield's Denroy Wilson), Horace Sharpe (scored two of St. Jago's four goals on Wednesday against Tivoli) and Kenny Rodrigues.
This is St. Jago's first appearance in the Walker Cup final and the most successful season in the school's history and Hawthorne believes this year is their year to take home the trophy.
Manley, who have more experience with four Walker Cup final appearances but have not won a title either, may be a bit more assertive in today's game. A win is possibly more important for Norman Manley who fell short of expectations by not repeating last year's success or even reaching the finals. Their coach, Alrick Clarke, had long said that he wanted to win both the Manning Cup and the Walker Cup trophies this year. Now that the former is being housed at Excelsior, Clarke now has to contend for the Walker Cup.
"Initially we wanted both championships but we are now doing the final preparations for winning the Walker Cup tomorrow," Clarke said during his team's practice yesterday.
"This is a different game from our quarter-final match-up when we only needed a draw, this time we have to go all out," Clarke said.
Norman Manley's forward Bryan Baylis, who scored the winning goal against Charlie Smith on Wednesday, Kearn Binns and captain Omar Longbridge need to assume their usual role of carrying their team offensively for Clarke's wish to be realised.
TODAY'S FINAL
St. Jago vs Norman Manley - Ferdie Neita - 2:45 p.m.
