Howard Walker, Staff Reporter
( L - R ) Calabar's Ramone Palmer and Norman Manley's André Pagon
IT WILL be semi-final day in the ISSA/Pepsi/JN Manning Cup at the Spring Complex as Calabar High tackle St. Catherine High in the curtain raiser at 1:00 p.m., before Norman Manley take on St. Andrew Technical (STATHS) at 3:00 p.m.
Title favourites Calabar kept their hopes of winning their first Manning Cup title in 28 years alive by topping Group 2 with seven points ahead of St. Catherine and will today meet the same opponents within a week.
Calabar, the 1943 and 1977 champions, drew 2-2 with Eltham before registering 2-1 and 4-0 victories over St. Catherine and Mona respectively.
When both team met exactly a week ago, Calabar came from behind, courtesy of two Robert Palmer penalties, to edge 10-man St. Catherine in a heated and controversial match.
The David Hunt-coach team will once again depend on captain and sweeper Robert Palmer, Marlon Smith, Ramone Plamer, Cleon Brown, Lennox Creary and Shane Bygrave to carry them to victory.
St. Catherine, a one-time perrenial cinderalla team, for the first time in their history have threaded so far and are entering into unchartered territory.
They qualified second behind Wolmer's in Group F to advance to the second round before clipping the same Wolmer's for a semi-final spot.
St. Catherine came second in Group 2 behind Calabar with six points, while Wolmer's finished on five points in Group 1.
The Michael Small-coached aggregation will be looking to create history and reach their first final, which is not beyond them after their courageous showing last week against Calabar.
GOALSCORER BENNETT MISSED
Leading scorer Kemar Bennett, who has netted three goals in their last three games, will certainly be missed after picking up a red card in his last game against Jamaica College.
But Duran Dilworth, Anthony Arthurs, Kemar Daley and Shavar Callinder have the chance to become folklore heroes at the
institution.
In the other semi-final, Norman Manley, the most successful team of the four protagonists with three titles, tackle a determined and dangerous STATHS team growing in confidence.
The Alrick Clarke-coached Norman Manley, winners in 1996, 2000 and 2002, won Group 3 impressively, gaining maximum nine points with victories over Bridgeport 2-0, Tivoli Gardens 1-0 and Charlie Smith 2-1.
In their first round clashes, Norman Manley had two close victories over STATHS - 1-0 and 2-1 - and today's encounter should be equally close.
TIGHTEST DEFENCES
Norman Manley, through captain Andre Pagon, Kemar Thomas, Romario Campbell, Rushane Berry and Kenrick Brown, could make it three from three against STATHS.
With both schools having two of the tightest defences in the competition, it's a matter of which team capitalises on the goalscoring chances.
Norman Manley have conceded just four goals, while STATHS' goal have been penetrated on eight occasions.
The Keith Nicholls-coached STATHS, winners in 1987, will be looking for captain Troy Watson, Troy Clue, Wayne Williams and Demar Elphil to get the better of their opponents for the first time this season.
Both semi-final games should be interesting with Calabar and Norman Manley seeming to be the ideal finalist for Saturday's championship match-up, but St. Catherine and STATHS will certainly have other ideas.
