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Hyde upbeat despite trophy-less season
December 09, 2024
AFTER ending the 2024 ISSA schoolboy football season without a silverware, Lenworth Hyde, head coach of Clarendon College, expressed that it's part and parcel of the sport, adding that this year's squad boasts a number of fresh players.
"Such is the game. This year we were in and out with players; we lost some from last year so we brought in new players and we went to the quarter-final of the daCosta Cup where we got knocked out and after that we trimmed the squad," he stated.
Clarendon College started the season in a bid to defend their daCosta Cup title, but were ousted at the quarter-final stage of the competition. They then suffered a 3-1 defeat in the final of the Ben Francis knockout competition against St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) on Saturday. Entering the final, Clarendon College were seeking their fifth hold of the title and their first since 2017.
"We brought up some of the under-16 players to play in this competition, (we're)just building for next season. I think we tried, the St Elizabeth Technical team were just quicker than us and we didn't finish the chances that we created," Hyde noted.
The veteran coach, despite the defeat, stated that he saw signs that the young team is on a good trajectory to ruffle some feathers come next season.
"I saw some glimpses of what I want to see and with an entire season ahead of us we just have to go back and work in order to get the chemistry going again," he believes.
In the meantime, STETHS ended their nine-year wait for a title through goals from Kaieem Lewis (27th), Henry Johnson (45+2) and Jordon Blake (90+3).
Clarendon College scored a penalty in the 67th minute, which was converted by Justin Hayles.
Omar Wedderburn, head coach of STETHS, stated that the title should breathe new life into the school's football programme.
"It's almost a decade since we last won anything and this could be a way to start off things. This is our seventh Ben Francis title, so we're going to creep again before we walk. This is the creeping right now, we have great plans for next year and this will motivate our programme going forward," Wedderburn said.
WALKER CUP
Meanwhile, in the Corporate Area Walker Cup KO final, a double strike from Kshaine Gordon ensured Mona ended the 2024 ISSA schoolboy football season with trophy success as they produced a 4-1 come from behind victory to defeat Excelsior High at the National Stadium on Friday evening.
Excelsior, who went in search of their eighth Walker Cup title, took the lead in the 12th minute as Damarley Williams' right-footed strike managed to get beyond the grasp of Mona's custodian Riquelme Edwards.
Mona equalised in the 34th through Carlton Brown. In the second half, it was all Mona as their offensive line went into overdrive. K'shaine Gordon gave his team the lead at the 52nd minute and by the 55th minute Mona put distance between themselves and Excelsior as Marlon Cunningham scored. Gordon scored again, in the 76th minute, ensuring Mona's second title in two years following their Manning Cup triumph last season.
