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JC: Walker Cup champions at last!
BY Dhane Brown Observer TEENage writer UWI
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
October 30, 2009 is a day that, for every person affiliated with Jamaica College (JC), will forever remain sacred. Not because it was the day that Spanish King Juan Carlos assumed the throne in 1975; not because it was the day that Mohammed Ali won the infamous fight known as the "Rumble in the Jungle" in 1974.
The reason those dark blue-clad boys from Hope Road will be celebrating way beyond this week, as the day they finally won their first Walker Cup Knockout title.
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| ISSA president, Dr Walton Small (left), presents the Walker Cup trophy to JC captain Ashani Walker (3rd right) after his team defeated St George's College 5-4 on penalties at the Constant Spring playing field last Friday. (Photos: Garfield Robinson) |
The symbol of urban schoolboy knock-out supremacy has, since its inception, eluded the JC faithful.
One can only imagine how JC must have felt knowing that countless other schools, with much less credentials in schoolboy football, have lifted the trophy. You can only imagine the pain they must have felt losing to perennial rivals Calabar in 2007 compounded by the fact that they went on that year to cop the other two trophies available to them. And if you were watching the news last week, you can definitely see the jubilation on the faces of the throngs of supporters, young and old alike, as they dispatched yet another rival in St George's College on penalties.
After the postponement of their quarter-final match against St Andrew Technical two weeks ago, Jamaica College was faced with the mammoth task of playing three matches in five days if they wanted to cop the one title they had never won.
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| JC captain Ashani Walker is hoisted on the shoulders of his teammates. |
After narrowly escaping their quarters on Monday and dispatching favourites Bridgeport on Wednesday, they moved on to face powerhouse St George's in what was billed to be an epic repeat of last year's Manning Cup finals.
Despite taking the lead twice in the first half, the dark blue-clad boys were brought back to earth with two equalisers in the same period. An open second-half ensued, but was to no avail as neither team could break the deadlock. In the end, Ashani Walker, Conroy Johnson, Theo Campbell, Nicholas Scott, and Linsworth Daley were able to hold their cool and finish their penalties for the victors.
On the losing side, McKauley Tulloch, Johnson Allison, Carl Reid, and Marvin Morgan all kept their composure to give the light blue-clad, North Street-based team a chance.
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| Neville 'Bertis' Bell (left), coach of St George's College, congratulates Alfred Henry, Jamaica College's coach after his team was victorious in the Walker Cup Knockout competition. It was the first time in its history that Jamaica College has gained a hold on the Cup. |
Reshawn Forbes was not as cool, however, missing his spot kick and sending the Hope Road-based contingent into jubilee.
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