Olivier Shield showdown!
KC, CC clash for allisland crown
Last weekend, Ludlow Bernard and Lenny Hyde added two coveted titles to their coaching résumés, when they led Kingston College (KC) and Clarendon College respectively, to the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup and ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup titles.
However, only one of them will be able to claim national schoolboy football supremacy, with their heavyweight teams set to clash this evening at 6:00 p.m. for the Olivier Shield at the National Stadium.
Bernard, who ended
KC’s 32-year wait to lift the Manning Cup title, admitted that this match carries far less weight than the pressure he faced to deliver the Manning Cup title to KC faithful. This, he hopes, will enable his boys to freely display their skill and class .
“There are no nerves approaching this contest,” Bernard told The Gleaner yesterday.
MORE FREEDOM
“There is a lot more freedom with the nerves. I am a lot freer with the approach. I think what has been relieved was the burden, and dealing with this one is a lot lighter, and as a result, I expect the boys to express themselves a lot more Saturday evening,” Bernard said.
“The opponent is very strong and formidable. I expect it to be a very good and entertaining game. By no means will it be a walkover, but we will be blazing from all guns, and I know they will be doing the same, but I expect us to be victorious.”
Hyde might have something to say about that, and he certainly has the motivation – Olivier Shield title aside, considering that he was unceremoniously dismissed by the North Streetbased school three seasons ago. For what it’s worth, Hyde insists that this is not a vengeance match for him. “KC is a good team, and ‘Luddy’ (Bernard) is a good coach. This will not be a vengeance thing, I am good friends with Luddy and a lot of the players. It will be a fun day, and may the best team win,” said Hyde. Hyde was part of the 1977 Clarendon College team, which won the daCosta Cup and Olivier Shield titles under legendary coach Winston Chung- Fah, who recently passed.
“We have to approach this very serious. That’s what we did in ‘77, and we want to replicate that, so we are looking forward to it,” he said.
The last time KC won the Manning Cup prior to this season, they also delivered the Olivier Shield title back in 1986. Clarendon College last lifted the shield in 1998 when it was shared with Dunoon Technical.