Clarendon derby to highlight daCosta Cup semis

Western Bureau:

The Clarendon derby clash, featuring defending champions Clarendon College and Garvey Maceo High School, will highlight the ISSA daCosta Cup semi-final double-header at the STETHS Sports Complex in Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth, this afternoon. The feature match kicks off at 3:15. Before that, at 1 p.m., two-time champions Dinthill Technical High School take on Manning's School. The latter looking to reach the final for the first time in their 283-year-old history.

Merron Gordon, the head coach of Garvey Maceo, is hoping Clarendon will come into the game overconfident from the euphoria of their Champions Cup success and give his team something to exploit.

The 'Cubans' as they are affectionately called have been the most lethal team in front of goal, scoring 38 goals in 10 daCosta Cup games while conceding just four. They are, however, coming into the game off a 1-0 quarter-final defeat to Jamaica College in the Champions Cup.

"It's going to be a tough game but we have watched Clarendon College and like all schoolboy teams there are strengths and weaknesses. We will try to exploit their weaknesses and minimise our mistakes on the day for a win," Gordon said.

Lenworth 'Lenny' Hyde, head coach of Clarendon, said getting to the final of the daCosta Cup is very important as it is a competition they hold dear to their hearts. He noted that they will have to refocus after the high of reaching the Champions Cup final.

"We are preparing well because it's very important to us. It's going to be a tough game, Garvey Maceo are a good team with some good players so it will be a competitive semi-final. We have to try and cut down the mistakes in our game. It's a derby so we just have to go out there and perform well," said Hyde, who believes it is good for the parish of Clarendon to have two teams in the daCosta Cup semi-finals.

"It's always a good momentum coming off a win," he said while looking back at the Champions Cup semi-final victory. "However, we have to remain humble and let the players know that it's not over as yet, we still have a lot of work to do. We are not a team that is hype, we don't have any stars on the team. We just have to keep them level headed and urge them to play as a unit," he added.

Clarendon have scored 39 goals in 12 games (all competitions) and are one of the schoolboy best teams in the island. However, while they are known to play an attractive possession-based brand of football their Achilles Heel this season is their defence. They have conceded eight goals which is the most among the semi-finalists.