Something special in store as KC, STGC renew Roper Cup rivalry
This year’s staging of the Roper Cup, the annual football festival played between North Street neighbours and rivals Kingston College (KC) and St George’s College (STGC), promises to have a bit more sting than the usual contest as the occasion marks the first time that the teams will meet since the epic Manning Cup finals last November.
KC scored a dramatic 3-2 win to end a 32-year title drought in that memorable final and the STGC will be looking to make amends and regain bragging rights today.
The event was launched at Qualcare Distributors last Friday where it was announced that Ludlow Bernard who guided Kingston College to three senior titles in the last three seasons will be honoured for his contribution to football at the school.
As usual, five games will be played between the two schools — the Under-14, the Under-16, the Under-35, the Over-35, and the Manning Cup teams.
“The result of the Manning Cup final still resonates between the two teams of course. We need to maintain our advantage over our rivals.
“The game last year was tight and they may feel that they should have won. We dug deep to get the victory, and we will be doing the same this Saturday (today),” said KC Coach Ludlow Bernard.
STGC Assistant Coach Marcel Gayle says that his team has got past the Manning Cup final and are looking forward to an even better 2019 season.
“It is water under the bridge, it just shows that we have two good schools on one road, but unfortunately we lost in the final to Kingston College.
“We have turned the page and we are looking for bigger and better things this year. We are looking forward to the friendly rivalry as usual,” he said.
As the start of the schoolboy football season fast approaches Gayle says things are falling into place for his team.
“Our preparation is good thus far, I can’t complain, we have a few injuries here and there but nothing much to worry about, the guys are coming back around.
“This is the last game before the competition so we are going to use this as the platform to showcase our talent. There are still areas that I think we can get better in so it’s still a work in progress.”
The final game of the day, the game between the Manning Cup teams is set to get underway at 4:30pm sharp as the lights will not be turned on at the venue.
— Dwayne Richards
