Sport

Jose Marti await JC

JAMAICA COLLEGE (JC) must be looking towards this afternoon's Manning Cup match-up against hosts Jose Marti beginning at 3:30.

JC will suit up for their first match of the 2004 schoolboy football season and will bow into action among four rescheduled matches from Groups A, C and E.

The Hope Road boys missed their shot to play the season-opener against champs Excelsior High when Hurricane Ivan postponed sporting events islandwide.

"I'm definitely looking at taking three points." JC coach Glen Laing said yesterday.

JC comprise a very young team which will test its skills against Jose Marti, who were drubbed 5-1 by Excelsior Tuesday.

"I'm smiling because if you let five goals pass you, that means your defence can't be all that great and with attacking being our strong point that's the way I like it," Laing said.

JC have won the most Manning Cup titles, 19, with the last coming in 1974. Although their better days are behind, Laing said this year the school is hungry to return to its former glory days.

"There is a sense of urgency, everybody is looking at JC as if we don't have a right to the trohpy," said Laing. "All these new schools are playing all of the football but we were the leaders and teachers of this thing and we want to re-establish ourselves as a force."

JC's best performce after winning the title in '74 was a final appearance in 1999, losing to Tivoli Gardens High and they had their worst performance last season after failing to advance to the second round for the first time.

This season, however, Laing said he is looking to advance as the quality of the teams in his zone is weaker compared to last season and they will begin that by taking three points tomorrow.

"They (Jose Marti) played on Tuesday and they got a day's rest. I can't see them correcting all their mistakes. Probably we can get three (goals) from our first match," he added.

Laing said his team is at about 80 per cent and will be getting better throughout the season.

Jose Marti's manager Earl Brown said his team won't be a cakewalk for JC as he has made changes.

"We have more players who we will be bringing in and some of them have a bit more experience and maturity," Brown said.

Brown mentioned that his backline in particular will not be allowing JC's forward to have their way.

"We had a number of players injured and it forced us to make some changes to the backline that we were not ready to make at the time and that was one of our breakdowns against Excelsior," Brown said.

In Group E, Clan Carthy host Campion College at Vauxhall. Both teams are in a three-way tie with Bridgeport on second place with three points.

In Group C, Spanish Town play Kingston Technical at Prison Oval and Cumberland travel to Tivoli.