Two semi-final places will be up for grabs when the final set of Group A quarter-final matches in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/Digicel Manning Cup competition are played this afternoon.

Jamaica College (JC), fresh from their 3-0 victory over stalwart rivals Kingston College (KC) on Tuesday, will host Tivoli Gardens High at the Richard Ashenheim Stadium. In the other matchup, defending champions Mona High are scheduled to face KC at the Stadium East field. Both matches are scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m.

JC, coached by Davion Ferguson, leads the group with four points, one ahead of KC and Tivoli Gardens, who are tied with three points each. Mona sits at the bottom of Group A with one point.

Tivoli Gardens will go into the competition full of confidence after the Christopher Nicholas-coached team outclassed Mona 3-1 last time out.

Ferguson says his players are fully aware of the challenge ahead of them and are ready to give everything to achieve a positive result.

“Our goal is to reach the semi-finals and there are a few permutations that will help us achieve that goal. We’re just going to try to win this game,” he said. “It won’t be easy because we saw the warning signs when they (Tivoli Gardens) played Mona. We know they have quality, so it will be a difficult match but we will be ready for it.

Ferguson highlighted that JC remain the only undefeated team in under-19 schoolboy football this season and he is confident his players will put in a strong performance.

“I think if you look at this season, no one really talks about JC, but that’s good. We are still the only undefeated team in the schools competition this season, and so we know exactly where we are and what we can do,” he noted. “For us, it’s not about what other people think. It depends on what we have internally, and we take it game by game. That’s what we’re going to do on Friday,” added Ferguson.

JC will rely heavily on their captain Dyllan John, as well as Nashordo Gibbs, Jamoy Dennis and Jabari Howell, to lead them to victory.

On the other hand, Nicholas is very optimistic about Tivoli’s chances of getting the result needed to move forward. “We are very confident going into this match because from the start of the season we knew what we were capable of,” he said.

“The game against KC that we lost was a bit unfortunate, and everyone looked down on us afterward. But we bounced back well against Mona, and everyone saw our qualities in that match. So, for this match, our boys are ready.

“However, we know it will be a difficult match because JC is a very good team. But we are ready to go out there and fight until the end,” Nicholas added.

Tivoli Gardens are expected to place their hopes in the hands of Ryan Francis, Dominique Goldbourne, Dave Campbell and Horace Morgan to lead them to victory.

The last round of the quarter-finals of Group B is scheduled for Saturday.

—Robert Bailey

FRIDAY GAMES

Jamaica College vs Tivoli Gardens at Ashenheim Stadium

Mona vs Kingston College @ Eastern Stadium

NICHOLAS… we know it’s going to be a difficult match because JC is a very good team Photo: Joseph Wellington

Vassell Reynolds, Kingston College football coach

Mona High football coach Craig Butler. Photo: Garfield Robinson

FERGUSON… we are still the only undefeated team in the schoolboy competition this season