WITH THE expectations of bringing the coveted Manning Cup title back to Kingston College (KC) seeming to swell at the North Street school after every year of disappointment, KC assistant coach Ludlow Bernard admits that he is wary of the players being put under too much pressure.

Although the team has captured an impressive 14 titles - behind only neighbour St George's and the team with the most schoolboy football titles in Manning Cup history, Jamaica College, it has been 22 years since KC have found themselves in the winners' circle.

Quality of the team

"Based on the quality of the team this year I would say anything less than a title is bound to be a disappointment for us," Bernard told The Gleaner.

"It has been a while since the school has won a title so the fans are clamouring for us to take it. Sometimes we have to be careful how much pressure we put on the players, however," he said.

Clovelly Park is never short on crowd support and anxious past and present students, who line the field and even surround the team after games, are never short on advice. While Bernard believes the team has the talent to return the title to North Street, there are a couple of issues that need to be addressed.

"We have been achieving our objective so far and that is winning games, but there are some areas that we need to work on, especially in terms of our transition from defence to midfield to forward," he said.

Good defence

"The thing that has been happening for us is that defensively we are good, but over the next couple of weeks we need to focus on the midfield and defensive unit," he said.

Finishing at the top of Group F with 25 points, ahead of St Andrew Technical (STATHS) on goal difference, KC, led by 15 goals from one of the competition's top scorers McKaulay Tulloch, have netted an impressive 31 goals while maintaining a defensively stingy record of only three goals conceded. KC will have to battle their way out of Group One where they find themselves alongside Norman Manley, Wolmer's and Bridgeport. They played their way to a 2-2 draw against Bridgeport in their opening game and face Norman Manley tomorrow.

- K.M.