Hydel, Cumberland confident for Walker Cup

A pulsating encounter is expected today when Hydel High School and Cumberland High School clash in the semi-finals of the ISSA/Digicel Walker Cup Knockout competition at the Spanish Town Prison Oval at 1 p.m. In the second match of the double-header, Excelsior will face St Catherine at 3 p.m.

Hydel, who are highly-favoured to win today's game, secured their place in the semi-finals after an exciting 3-2 win over Mona.

Corey Bennett, head coach of Hydel, said he is very optimistic of victory but he is expecting a tough match from Cumberland.

"We are looking to get back to our second ever final, because we have been to the Manning Cup final in 2012 and we have been absent from this stage for quite a while now," said Bennett.

"We really want to do what it takes to go back to the final. However, it should be a tough game because they beat St Jago (quarter-finals), who won their zone in the Manning Cup, so they have some amount of quality in their team," he said. "We played them in a practice game in the summer, so that is when I realised that they have some quality. It should be a very exciting game, but we are ready for it."

Andrew Thomas, manager of Cumberland, who are reaching the semi-finals for the first time in the school's history, booked their place after defeating St Jago 1-0.

"We are feeling very confident because we are focused and we are happy to take on this challenge," said Thomas.

"The school is overwhelmed and they are supporting the team fully. The principal, the staff and the entire school community are behind the team," he said. "We have defeated them at the Under-14 and Under-16 levels with the same team, so these are the same crop of boys who have played them in the previous years. We are just going to play our game and win the match."