File photos
John-Ross Doyley of Glenmuir High (left) and Ashton Bennett of Garvey Maceo.

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

It will be two extremely confident teams taking the field this afternoon when champions Glenmuir and first-time finalist Garvey Maceo square off in the much-anticipated Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup final at Brancourt, Clarendon, starting at 3:00 p.m.

With both teams boasting impressive records, there is no question that Glenmuir with 12 wins, four draws and one defeat in 17 games; and Garvey Maceo, with 16 wins, four draws and one defeat in 21 games, are the two best teams in rural schoolboy football and are deserving finalists.

In addition to the coveted cup, the astute Jackie Walters, the coach of the Glenmuir team, will also be seeking to avenge their only defeat this season, the 0-1 loss they suffered to Garvey Maceo in their first-round Zone I preliminary fixture - their first defeat in a zone fixture in five years.

"This is the time to show them we are the better team," said Walters, whose team drew the second round preliminary game 1-1. "We are ready to go out there and win this game, the mood in the camp is very positive and high, very high."

The Garvey Maceo team, which racked up an impressive 17-game unbeaten streak before suffering a surprise 0-2 quarter-final loss to Cornwall College, are bubbling with confidence as they seek to add the daCosta Cup to the Ben Francis Knockout title they won at the expense of Rusea's.

"Every game against Glenmuir is like a final so we basically know what to expect going into this game," said Jeffrey Hewitt, the coach of Garvey Maceo. "The atmosphere for a game like this is usually intense, as being a Claren-don derby, a lot of excitement is expected."

Talented players

In terms of personnel, both Glenmuir and Garvey Maceo, who will both be at full strength, are blessed with an impressive crop of extremely talented players, inclusive of several players who have already donned the national colours at youth level.

Glenmuir's charge will be led by the irrepressible John-Ross Doyley, who was the star in an exciting 3-2 semi-final win against Cornwall College, scoring all three goals.

He is expected to get quality support from the likes of skipper James Thomas, the wily Trevol Smith, Drion McNain and the classy Ricardo Webb.

"The one-week break between the last game has served us well as we are now injury-free," said coach Walters. "We will have a fully fit unit going into this game, so you can expect to see us at our best."

Prolific striker

With prolific striker Ashton Bennett, who scored his 36th and 37th goals of the season in the semi-final win against Rusea's, leading the Garvey Maceo attack, the Glenmuir defence could be in for a tough afternoon as he is showing no signs of losing his rich appetite for goals. In fact, should he get quality support from Richard Allen, Daniel Callaghan and Mikhail Howell, he could prove awesome.

"Over the past week we have done some tactical work to fine-tune our overall preparation so we are basically focused and ready to go out and execute," said coach Hewitt. "We are extremely confident that we will add the daCosta Cup to the Ben Francis Cup, we are ready."

However, calling this game could be a nightmare for the pundits, as with Garvey Maceo scoring 70 goals and giving up 12 in their 21 games, and Glenmuir scoring 73 goals and giving up giving up 13 in their 17 games, there is really very little offensive and defensive difference between the teams.