With the daCosta Cup teams at the controls, all eyes will be on Manning Cup’s lone ambassador Wolmer’s Boys’ School in one of two mouth-watering ISSA/FLOW Super Cup semi-final encounters at Sabina Park today.

Both games have the qualities to be humdingers, as the rural area teams have now excelled above their urban area counterparts, who have been dominant over the last two years.

Clarendon College, St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and Cornwall College have all come to the party and, like Wolmer’s, will be hoping to waltz their way into the ultimate showdown of the third edition of the “Champions League of Schoolboy Football” tournament.

Wolmer’s will feature in the main event against daCosta Cup kingpins STETHS at 6:00 pm, while Cornwall College will oppose the red-hot Clarendon College in the curtain-raiser of the double-header at 4:00 pm.

Wolmer’s booked their spot in the semi-final after scoring a comfortable 6-0 win over Little London High, followed by a hard-fought 1-0 scoreline in turning the tables on Kingston College, who inflicted their only blemish in all competitions.

The Heroes’ Circle-based boys will enter the contest brimming with confidence of ensuring that the Corporate Area is represented in the final of the lucrative competition as they continue their hunt for the $1-million prize and the Italian-made trophy.

They are currently on a four-match winning run across all competitions, with their most recent being a 2-0 result against St George’s College in Manning Cup action, and they are once again expected to be well-organised to produce a stunning performance in the bid to make it five straight.

A reproduction of that performance and a high level of mental preparation could see Wolmer’s surpassing their opponents.

But Coach Vassell Reynolds, in dismissing the favourites tag, is cognisant that STETHS are no pushovers.

“I’m not too certain of the favourite tag; I would want to think that the results indicate something like that, but we want to remain focused. We don’t want to get carried away, we just want to keep our feet grounded and continue to work hard,” Reynolds noted.

STETHS are making a return to the semi-final for the second time after achieving the feat in 2014, but they will now be aiming to go one step farther this time around. The Santa Cruz-based team came from behind to defeat Holy Trinity 4-3 and eased past Bridgeport 2-0 along their journey, and will again prove a formidable opponent.

They are expected to travel with a few tricks up their sleeve if they are to get anything much from a miserly Wolmer’s defensive unit.

STETHS Coach Omar Wedderburn believes his team will relish the challenge and is now prepared to go beyond this stage of the competition.

“As I always say, the semi-final is always a tough game because we are 90 minutes away from the final and none of these teams has ever been to the final, so it will be a dog fight. We are one of the first semi-finalists of this competition and we would like to go further, so we know it won’t be a walk in the park because both teams are hoping to crown themselves.” he said.

Meanwhile, Cornwall College will be aiming to continue their unbeaten run this season against the other high-riding Clarendon College who, according to many football enthusiasts, are favourites to cop the daCosta Cup.

Both teams registered contrasting victories on their way to the semi-final, with Cornwall College requiring penalties to get by Rusea’s 4-3 after a 1-1 scoreline, while Clarendon College blew away Excelsior 7-1.

This could be the first of three possible meetings between the teams as they are currently on course to meet in the semi-finals of the daCosta Cup if they win their quarter-final groups and also the semi-finals of the Ben Francis KO. And based on their current form, one can expect an enthralling battle in today’s encounter for the coveted spot in the final.

Dean Weatherly, coach of Cornwall College, told the

Jamaica Observer West in a recent interview that he is expecting a tough battle.

“Clarendon will be tough, tougher than our last Super Cup game. Clarendon seem to be firing on all cylinders and we have to be aware and prepare for them [because] they have a very good all-round team and they have a very good coaching staff. We can’t take them lightly and it will be a very enjoyable game to watch.

“If you want to be the champion, it does not matter who your opponent will be, even if you play 10 times; that’s how the competition is set up and we just have to manage what comes to us,” said Weatherly.

The prolific Jourdaine Fletcher along with Peter-Lee Vassell, Michael Heaven and Dwayne Harding will be expected to carry the weight of the attack for the western Jamaica team.

However, their defensive line will have to prevent Clarendon College’s potent attacking force, spearheaded by Captain Creggton Charlton, National Under-17 striker Nicque Daley and Shande James from breaching their backline.

Technical Director Lenny Hyde said his unit is confident of a good performance, but wary of the task at hand.

“We are confident, but we don’t want to be overconfident… we are playing good football and that is why people are talking about us, but we want to remain humble and we want to remain steadfast. We can’t just do it one game, so we want to continue to play and keep our heads in the game and don’t be too cocky about,” he told the

Jamaica Observer.

Today’s schedule

4:00 pm – Cornwall College vs Clarendon College @ Sabina Park

6:00 pm – Wolmer’s Boys’ vs St Elizabeth Technical @ Sabina Park