Bridgeport, St George's clash for Manning Cup

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Defending champions St George's College and Bridgeport High's successful runs this season in the urban area ISSA/Pepsi/ Digicel Manning Cup will be put on the line today when they meet in the final of at the National Stadium.

The match-up, which is slated to get under way at 3:30 p.m., will see favourites St George's gunning for their 21st hold on the trophy, while Bridgeport - who were beaten in the finals in 2003 and 2007 - will be seeking their third lien on the crown.

"There is no pressure on us because we thank God that we have made it to the final. However, we are not satisfied because we want to win the Manning Cup," said St George's coach, Neville Bell.

"Bridgeport is a good team and they have an experienced coach, but we are confident knowing that if we play as well as we have been doing all season then we should win."

St George's, who dispatched Excelsior 3-0 in the semi-finals, will be seeking to make amends after going down on penalties to Jamaica College in the final of the Walker Cup knockout competition three weeks ago.

They will look to national Under-20 representative and the competition's second-highest leading goalscorer, McKaully Tulloch, who has 18 goals to his credit, and creative midfiedler Marvin Morgan who, with his sublime touches, has been a crowd favourite this season.

Having said that, St George's know that Bridgeport can be equally as efficient as they have been this season, as the boys from the Sunshine City have only lost once and have in their line-up the competition's leading goalscorer, Darren Mattocks, who has scored 23 times.

Desperate

"We are very desperate for this title because we have been knocking at the door for a number of years now," said Patrick, whose team defeated St Andrew Technical High School 1-0 in the semi-finals.

"We lost in the finals in 2003 and 2007 and now we are back in it, and I believe it is time for us to win it. I think my team has a lot of depth in it because we were one of the best offensive teams in the competition this season," he added.

National Under-17 representative, midfielder Jamiel Hardware, and striker Adoah Nickle are expected to provide good support for Mattocks.