DESPITE dominating schoolboy football in the rural area for the past seven years, there is an argument making the rounds that St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) have underachieved in this same period.

But, after claiming the rural area double earlier in the campaign, the Santa Cruz-based boys now have the perfect opportunity to set that record straight when they journey today Kingston to face urban area kingpins Jamaica College (JC) in the ISSA/Flow Olivier Shield play-off.

The sides will meet at Stadium East, with the winner set to be crowned all-island champions.

Game time is 2:30 pm.

At face value, winning nine trophies in seven years makes that opening line seem a bit nonsensical. Yet when examined from a wider scale this theory certainly has merit.

Of the nine titles STETHS have won since 2009 six of them have come in the Ben Francis Knockout competition, while the other three were won in the daCosta Cup.

But not once during this period of success they have they managed to transfer this dominance of the rural competition to the national stage; hence the debate about their credibility as a genuine super team.

Their last two appearances in the play-off ended with embarrassing defeats to St George’s College in ’09 and JC in 2013.

In fact, the only time STETHS have donned the title of national champions was 16 years ago when they beat Tivoli Gardens High School in a two-way decider.

This year’s battle will, however, be contested over 90 minutes, with extra time and penalties if necessary, which many believe gives STETHS a very good chance of winning the Shield for a second time.

This new format was introduced last year as ISSA, the governing body for high school sports in Jamaica, looked to add more intrigue to this season-ending showdown.

But perhaps it could also be argued that this change was also brought about with the view of levelling the playing field. Because so dominant have the Manning Cup champions been in the last decade that the last time a daCosta Cup team actually tasted success in this play-off was back in 2006 when Glenmuir High shared the Shield with Bridgeport High.

Incidentally, Glenmuir were also the last rural school to have won it outright, doing against Excelsior High in 2004.

No so wonder JC, the overwhelming favourites to win a third successive Olivier Shield, and 19th overall, are oozing with confidence ahead of this match-up.

The Old Hope Road school advanced to the play-off after clipping St George’s 1-0 to retain their Manning Cup title. Immediately after that triumph their Captain Allando Brown, while speaking on local television, said he would prefer to play STETHS for the Olivier Shield because they “just love to beat” them.

Using the same medium to respond to JC’s pre-match banter, after edging Dinthill Technical 1-0 to win the daCosta Cup last weekend, STETHS appeared cautiously optimistic at best.

Their coach, Omar Wedderburn, and Captain Chris Andrew Dixon gave the same response when asked about their impending duel with JC, a team that they have lost to in their last three meetings in all competitions.

Both parties said they would let the ball do the talking, which could either mean that they are lacking in confidence or that they really have something special in store for their opponents this afternoon.

Yet, given their perennial failure on the national stage, only the bravest amongst their fans will actually bet against them beating a JC team that, while void of flair in attack, are disciplined in defence and hugely efficient in all areas.

But, despite entering the contest as the underdogs, STETHS are actually the only team that can end the season with the Tripe Crown. And victory in Kingston this evening will go a far way in putting this alleged underachievers’ tag behind them. Defeat will, however, keep this debate raging for at least another season