JC technical director wants Walker Cup in trophy cabinet

Jamaica College (JC) Technical Director Jason Henry says the team is eager to add to its rich schoolboy history by winning the ISSA Walker Cup this season. JC advanced to the quarter-finals of the urban area knockout competition after 2-1 win over visitors St George’s College at Ashenheim Stadium on Tuesday. Jamaica Reggae Boyz Under-20 representative Jaquan Brown opened the scoring for the Old Hope Road-based school early in the first half, but St George’s responded through Mahlik Solomon shortly before half time. JC, who were reduced to 10 players after the hour mark, found the winner in the 70th minute thanks to Dashaun Smith. It was the season opener for JC who earned a bye in their round 16 contest last Saturday after Meadowbrook High withdrew.

Jamaica College’s Demario Stone (left) tries to protect the ball from St George’s College’s Jhamahl Simpson during the ISSA Walker Cup match at Ashenheim Stadium on Tuesday.

It was also Henry’s first game in charge of the programme, and he was pleased with his team’s effort. “To be honest, I’m very impressed. It’s an knockout competition so sometimes you can’t even beat the boys for how they play. But we have to get the result because this moves us into the next round and it also gives us a first game,” he said. “I was just saying to one of our staff members here that I think we may be the first team in the entire schoolboy football that just play a competitive game. So that is a good sign that we got one and we came out on top.” The format of the Walker Cup has changed this season, with all teams participating in the Manning Cup now eligible to compete. For the past seven editions, the top Manning Cup teams were unable to take part, leading many to view the competition as a consolation prize. With the prestige of the competition returning, Henry says it is only natural they try to add the trophy to their collection   “It is very important, especially for a school like Jamaica College. Once there is a chance to win a title, they want to win it, and that’s just the expectation. It’s not pressure — the school has a standard in terms of how they view schoolboy football, so once there is a title up for grabs, they want it and that’s just reality,” said the JC technical director Andrew Price, new head coach of St George’s College, said he was pleased with the direction of his team despite being eliminated from the tournament. “You have to look at the players that you have, look at their age, look at their experience and their exposure. Right now, this is a programme that is in a rebuilding mode,” he said. “This JC team is a more experienced team than us, but we came out here and we gave them a good fight and we really showed that we have some mettle, and we’re going to use this as a foundation for the remainder of the season to keep on working hard.” — Daniel Blake