Lawrence, Patrick go head-to-head again in Walker Cup

In the case of St Jago High School head coach Garnett Lawrence and St Catherine High School head coach Anthony Patrick, familiarity does not breed contempt but admiration of each other's coaching abilities.

When the two schools face each other in the first round of the Walker Cup at 3 p.m at the Spanish Town Prison Oval, both will be hoping to outdo the other to represent their parish in the later rounds.

Both teams were drawn in the same group in the Manning Cup first round and split the results in their two meetings this year. St Catherine won 1-0 in September while St Jago got revenge in the return leg 2-1.

Both coaches have worked together in their days at Bridgeport High, with both going on to become head coach.

Lawrence says that while the past results give an idea of how St Catherine will play, he is wary of Patrick's tendency to spring a surprise or two.

"He is full of surprises I can tell you that about coach Patrick. What we need to ensure is that we are ready. If they come with their A-game, we have to prepare ourselves and keep our A-game up," Lawrence told STAR Sports.

What has given St Jago confidence is the cup final mentality that Lawrence says they have played with to make the second round of the Manning Cup as one of the best third-place teams. With the knowledge that Lawrence has gained Patrick says that he hopes that the occasion will represent the parish well.

"We have worked together (Lawrence and I) for a few years, They know my style and I know their style and, hopefully, we can put on a good display for the parish," Patrick said.

While St Catherine's quest for a deep Manning Cup run ended early, Patrick says that they hope to do what they can to achieve a Walker Cup three-peat, something that has not been done in more than 20 years.

"We want to defend our title. This gives us another chance to defend the Walker Cup title and, hopefully, we can do it," Patrick said.