CLARENDON PARK, Clarendon — Semi-final action in the ISSA/Flow daCosta Cup competition will get underway today when the wounded Manchester High tackle Dinthill Technical at Juici Park in Clarendon.

Match time is 2:30 pm.

The winner of this game set to meet the victor of the other semi-final encounter between St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and Lennon High, which is scheduled for tomorrow at the same venue.

Both sides advanced to the semi-finals after topping their quarter-final groups, but were beaten by the same side, STETHS, at different stages of the Ben Francis Knockout competition.

Dinthill, the 1981 champions, lost to STETHS 7-6 in sudden-death penalty shoot-out after thrice surrendering one-goal leads, while Manchester, who are hunting their second berth in the daCosta Cup decider, were whipped 4-1 in the KO final.

And many believe such a comprehensive defeat actually makes Manchester High vulnerable heading into another must-win game against the team that essentially eliminated them from last season’s daCosta Cup.

In some ways, Coach Donovan Duckie agrees. “Looking at how human psychology works, they would be right,” he said, “because that was a beat’n, and these players are not professionals. They are youths, so it has to affect to them.”

“But,” he added, “as I always tell them, it is the next action that determines how strong we are. We have been beaten before at crucial moments of the season, but we always recover. And we tend to play better when there is no room for error.

“We lost the Ben Francis final, but there is still a possibility that we can end the season as champions, which means this is the most important game for us. If we lose it our season will be over.”

But that, he said, is the last thing on his mind. He believes his players, including Duhaney Williams, with two goals and an assist in their last two games, are motivated and are itching to take on a Dinthill team that defeated them 1-0 in last season’s quarter-final.

“Remember that nobody expected us to be here,” reasoned Duckie. “But each time they write us off we always come back with a strong performance, so of course the players are in high spirits. Mentally, they are good.”

Saying that, however, he does admit that they have a tough task against Dinthill. “They are a tough team,” said Duckie. “I have a lot of respect for their coach, Mr Patrick. He is very accomplished at this level and his team reflects that. So we have to limit our mistakes in defence and be very clinical when we get our chances.”

Despite being labeled as the favourites, the Dinthill coach, Anthony Patrick, said they will not be taking their opponents for granted.

He did, however, admit that his troops, including 25-goal striker Rodave Murray, are high on confidence.

“We have been playing well and they have been playing well, so I think the stage is set for a good game,” said Patrick.

“I think the reason why people are saying we are the favourites is because of the quarter-final group that we played in,” he added. “To win a group with (title holders) Clarendon College, Rusea’s (High) and Glenmuir (High) is a big feat and it will naturally give any team and players confidence. So we are very, very confident.

“But at the same time you don’t want to be overconfident. We are mindful of that and we talked to the players about it, because we don’t want it to distract us from the result that we need (today).”