Jamaica College (JC) again declared themselves as the best schoolboy team in the island with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) in the ISSA/Flow Olivier Shield final at the Stadium East field yesterday.

It was JC’s third-consecutive victory in the battle between the urban Manning Cup champions and the rural area daCosta Cup winners. It was also their 20th lien on the Shield that they first won in 1909.

A beautiful swerving freekick by Dwayne Foster gave STETHS a 32nd-minute lead before JC roared back in the second half with goals by Tyreek Magee and Donovan Dawkins in the 50th and 90th minutes, respectively.

The talented Magee struck a sumptuous left-footer from just outside the box that whistled past STETHS’ goalkeeper Kenroy Wallace and pulled the champions level after they had a low-key first half.

Then Dawkins latched onto a through ball from substitute Ronaldo Brown and expertly chipped the ball over the advancing goalkeeper for a deserving victory.

It was Dawkins’ seventh goal of the season. And he again proved to be a big game-winner following his 89th-minute header that won the Manning Cup a few weeks ago.

“I feel great because my coach told us that it’s history we are going to create again so I just did it. My vice-captain (Chadwayne Johnson) told me that I can do it and I knew I could do it,” said Dawkins, who scored seven times for Jamaica’s Under-17 in their 19-0 win over the US Virgin Islands last year.

It was a remarkable end to the season for JC following their crushing 0-4 defeat to St George’s College in the Super Cup final. The ‘Dark Blues’ from Old Hope Road are now double champions after securing the 27th lien on the Manning Cup and now the 20th hold on the all-island Olivier Shield.

Head Coach Miguel Coley has no doubt that JC are the best in the island and also a team for the big occasion.

“I know we are the best team. We are an all-round team, a tough team. We are not the most flashy or have the flair, (but) football encompasses every single thing. We are a mentally tough team, very organised and it paid off for us this year,” said Coley.

“I knew that it was going to be a tough game especially that we had a two weeks’ break. The first half we started flat. I had a tough half-time team talk with them and brought in a ball player in midfield, (and) brought Magee in midfield also and it paid dividends,” said Coley, who is also the senior Reggae Boyz assistant head coach.

“Congrats to the boys I think we had a wonderful season although we didn’t start well, but it’s always the finish that’s important in football. We have the instinct to be distinct that’s what we showed this year,” he added.

STETHS, who last won the Olivier Shield in 1999, were looking for their second lien and also to complete the unique ‘Triple Crown’ of schoolboy football after winning the rural area daCosta Cup and Ben Francis Cup titles.

But the STETHS coaching staff and their followers were left peeved by what they called poor refereeing by Oshane Nation, after at least two penalty shouts were turned down.

Head coach Omar Wedderburn tried hard to masked his disappointment after the final whistle.

“God knows it’s a loss that I really feel upset over because I know the youngsters gave it their all and when you have people making decisions pertaining to the game, it’s much different than when you get outplayed,” said Wedderburn.

When quizzed as to what exactly was he talking about, Wedderburn, took a deep breath before responding.

“Everybody who is here understands and saw the outcome. So if you’re looking for me to say this or that, I am not going to do that.”

It was a good final between two good teams with STETHS dominating the first half through the efforts of Romeo Wright, captain Chris-Andrew Dixon, Shawn Genus, Neville Morgan, Dwayne Foster and Alex Thompson.

But JC came back strong in the second half and through the efforts of Dawkins, Magee, Jamar Purchell, Donovan Segree, captain Allando Brown, Ajeanie Talbott, Maliek Howell, Zeron Sewell and Jahvone Russell, took control of the game.