St Jago have title intentions

by

September 26, 2023

Photo

St Catherine High’s Lavaughn Taylor (right) gets ready to tackle Mona High’s Denzel McKenzie during the schoolboy ISSA Manning Cup football match at Mona High on Saturday. Mona won 2-1.

St Jago High School announced themselves as one of the top contenders for Group G honours in the schoolboy ISSA Manning Cup football competition after seeing out the second half of their rescheduled game against Wolmer's Boys' School for a 2-0 win at Monk Street yesterday.

St Jago led 2-0 through goals from Javar Harris and Milton Lockin last Monday when rain forced the game to be postponed at halftime.

Yesterday's win puts the Spanish Town school atop the group with maximum nine points from three matches.

The Wolfe brothers, Wolry (head coach) and Rafe (assistant coach) have taken the reins from Garnet Lawrence from last season, and Rafe noted that their win over Wolmer's will now make them a target but warned about their intent for the season.

"We do not just come to participate this season. We come to compete, and title aspirations are definitely in our thoughts. We are definitely thinking of going all the way," Rafe told STAR Sports.

Both brothers started their football careers at Portmore United and played professionally for clubs such as Ferencvaros of Hungary.

According to Rafe, they are trying to instil self-belief in the players, which he argues they have accomplished with the win over Wolmer's.

"The boys now believe they can go through and top the group. They are getting the concept we want, and it's a good feeling being at the top of the group. The work gets even harder now because everyone will be coming for us," he pointed out.

He admitted that the players were nervous going into the second half against Wolmer's and that it took them some time to get a grip on the game.

"The boys had a little nerves. They didn't know whether to hold the 2-0 or go attack and get another goal and kill the game, but we tried to settle them down and let them know to play normal and concentrate a bit more.

"Wolmer's came high press, which we know they would. They threw everything at us to get back in the contest, but we concentrated, stuck to the task and defended well. We were shaky here and there, but we settled down and even got a few chances," Rafe said.

Wolmer's coach, Jerome Waite, said the damage was done from the first half.

"The rain affected the half played in favour of Jago because they scored two goals. The second 45 (minutes) was a different game. St Jago defended in numbers. We knew the only way to get back was to attack, so it was all out attack, but the opponents did well," Waite said.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com