Last year's semi-finalist, St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS), will look to underline their ambitions when they meet Tivoli Gardens High in second round action of the ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel Manning Cup corporate area senior schoolboy league competition, at the Constant Spring playing field at 3 p.m. this afternoon in the second match of a scheduled double-header.

Kingston College and 2004 champions Excelsior will meet in the early game at 1 p.m. in an encounter that is also expected to provide a lot of action, as the teams begin to joust for semi-final positions.

STATHS have been in impressive form all season and confirmed their title credentials after coming out on top of a tough group which consisted of Wolmer's and Camperdown, and will start slight favourites over their west Kingston-based counterparts.

They are hoping that the likes of Andrew Christie and Jermaine Reid will be able to continue their rich form as they seek to avenge their Walker Cup disappointment, after losing to eventual winners Jamaica College on penalties at the quarter-final stage.

Coach Keith Nichols is satisfied with his team's response in training and is looking for a positive performance.

Confident

Said Nichols: "Everything is going alright so far, the guys are very confident and they are ready to go. I like what I have seen from them, they are right where they need to be before this game and they are all looking forward to getting over the Walker Cup disappointment."

Tivoli's Dave Clarke was less confident, but believes his team's fighting spirit will prevail in the end.

"I am not completely satisfied with the preparation going into this game, we have had some issues," said Clarke. "Man to man we are not the best team in this competition but I expect the guys to go out there and give a good account of themselves. What we have in this group is a bunch of determined youngsters and this will go a long way."

In the curtain raiser, Kingston College will be hard-pressed to contain the explosive Excelsior. However, coach Wayne Fairclough believes his team will push the south-east St Andrew-based school to the end.

Said Fairclough: "We have been preparing pretty well and we are well rested so I expect the guys to give a good account of themselves. Excelsior is a very good team, well coached and very organised so we will have to play the same if we are to come out on top."

Exciting brand

Excelsior's Lebert Halliman, meanwhile, promised to stick to his trademark exciting brand of football and is expecting a solid showing from his team.

"This is like a final, every game at this stage is like a final and we are going out there to give our best and play our exciting brand of football," Halliman said.