With the uproar created by the recent call for divine intervention by the security minister to curb the spiralling crime situation, can you imagine if Ian Forbes had made a mistake while singing the National Anthem at the final of the ISSA/LIME Manning Cup final last Saturday?

Forbes, the Jamaica College team manager, stood tall when the public announcement system went down prior to the start of the final and sang bravely, but subsequently revealed that he almost had a slip of the tongue.

“I almost sang ‘Jamaica College We Love’ instead of ‘Jamaica Land We Love’, but fortunately I got the words right,” Forbes told the Jamaica Observer.

That might have been the divine intervention that JC needed before taking the field, and they went on to defeat Wolmer’s Boys 3-2 to lift the trophy.

But Forbes, a JC past student and managing director of Sherwin Williams West Indies, said it was his first time singing the anthem publicly and he did it to save the organisers embarrassment.

“Certainly it was my debut. It was potentially an embarrassing situation with the breakdown of the public address system. There was dead silence and I just had to step in. Luckily, I remembered the words, (though) I don’t know the quality of the voice. Having been a Boy Scout and taught by good parents, I knew the words,” said Forbes.

“I got one or two calls from people asking if it was Ian Andrews,” he said, with a laugh.

But based on the run of play, JC might well have got help from a deity. Their opening goal in the 26th minute was an own goal that spliced off the usually reliable Renicco Clarke’s foot and flew past his goalkeeper.

Then with Wolmer’s leading 2-1 thanks to goals from Jaheel Hyde in the 30th and 63rd minutes, JC looked doomed and out.

But with three minutes of normal time remaining, another piece of luck or divine intervention went JC’s way. The usually reliable goalkeeper, Dane Lee, spilled what seemed like a harmless header from Raffique Bryan, enabling the Dark Blues from Old Hope Road to pull level in the 87th minute and send the game into extra time.

The stage was now set and JC delivered the final blow in extra time with substitute Ronald Brown finding the clincher in the 99th minute.

The usually calm Forbes raised his hands to the sky. His job was over. He has once again masterminded another success for his alma mater. Floreat Collegium, Fervet Opus in Campis. May the College Flourish, Work is Burning in the Fields.

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