‘Jaaayyygooo a big side!’

THE EDITOR, Sir:

ON APRIL 3, 2019, Kingston College and St Jago competed in the finals of the Schools’ Challenge Quiz competition. Schools’ Challenge Quiz was celebrating its 50th anniversary and the finals were expected to be a showpiece.

KC, the current Manning Cup champions, ended their 32-year Manning Cup drought, and on Saturday, ended Calabar’s reign as Boys’Champs winners. Kingston College was, no doubt, on a high and going for the coveted treble: Manning Cup, Champs, and Quiz.

St Jago, on the other hand, had other ideas. Celebrating its 275th anniversary this year, the Monk Streetbased institution had all intentions of making it title number five, and what better team to do it against than the team with the most titles.

St Jago, a proud institution, is no stranger to success, and being the beaten finalists last year provided added motivation. However, after Kingston College’s dominant win at Champs, the thoughts of the treble for KC nonsupporters was just too unendurable, and so on to the St Jago wagon they went, and they were accepted willingly.

With the pressure and expectation of the free world now on St Jago’s shoulders, would they be able to deliver? With momentum on their side, would the young men from Kingston College deliver the treble for the many Fortis faithful?

St Jago entered the studio with confidence, their supporters, including the principal, exhuded confidence. Enter the young men from Kingston College, looking a bit nervous, but their supporters were in full voice.

The match began, and KC took an early lead. Not too perturbed by this, the St Jago team rallied and took a four-point lead heading into the buzzer section, and the rest, as they say, is history.

In the end, St Jago High’s 39 points to KC’s 19 points was a resounding victory for the Monk Street-based institution, a victory that ensured no‘purple reign’, a victory that brought singing, dancing and chanting. Don’t worry, KC. The chanting you’ll hear is “Jaaayyygooo a big side! Jaaayyygooo a big side!”

KEMAR BOGLE knb800@yahoo.com