The 2019 Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup losing finalists St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) and the 2019 ISSA/Digicel Walker Cup champions St Catherine High will kick off the quarter-final round of the Manning Cup at the Stadium East Field today.

The two will meet at 1:00 pm ahead of the second game at the same venue which will feature reigning champions Jamaica College (JC) and Mona High which is set for a 3:00 pm start.

STATHS can count themselves lucky to still be in the competition after they were reinstated on Tuesday as second-place finishers, following the disqualification of Tivoli Gardens High who had originally finished second in Group B of the competition.

Both Tivoli Gardens and Camperdown High, who originally won the group, were thrown out by the governing body, ISSA for using ineligible players.

So now the Phillip Williams-conditioned team have been thrown a lifeline and they will be hoping to make the most of it when they take on St Catherine High who finished third in Group C.

The STATHS team is a very young one and coach Williams has not had great expectations this season. While being in the quarter-final round may be more than he bargained for at the outset, he is sure to get his boys in the right frame of mind to take full advantage of the opportunity.

For Anthony Patrick and St Catherine High qualification was less dramatic and they are focused and ready to push for a spot in the semifinals of the competition.

St. Catherine were delighted to win the Walker Cup in 2019, but they have made their intentions clear this season, that they want more. The Manning Cup is their priority trophy and with a team that boasts a little more experience than their opponents will start favourites for this encounter.

STATHS should not be underestimated however as they showed good form in beating Jonathan Grant 2-1 to end the first round.

The champions JC will come face to face with the upstarts Mona High who are coached by a former JC Manning Cup player in Craig Butler, in the feature encounter.

After their now infamous slow start to the season where they picked up one point from two games, JC have won four games in a row and their current form has taken them top of Group A, after former leaders Kingston Technical faltered in their final preliminary round game last weekend.

Their head coach Davion Ferguson is pleased with the way his team has rounded into form at the right time and will be looking for his boys to remain on the same trajectory.

Butler has his team playing a different style of football from most other teams in the competition. They are more direct and more aggressive and will provide the perfect test for Ferguson’s team that likes to put the ball down and play it around.

The contrast in styles should make for an intriguing contest and will add to the other sub-plots surrounding the encounter.

All the teams will be looking for a good start in this round, as the top two teams will advance to the semi-finals which are set for next January.

— Dwayne Richards