With the ISSA/Flow Super Cup and Walker Cup knockout titles now within their grasp, St George’s College are currently on the brink of recapturing their glory days as the focus now shifts to the Manning Cup final.

The North Street-based team, hunting their 23rd lien on the prestigious Manning Cup title, last won the treble back in 2011 and are virtually proving unstoppable as they seek to repeat or surpass the feat with the lucrative Super Cup now thrown into the mix.

Their first round defeats to Innswood High and Denham Town, respectively, have been the only rut in the road for STGC, as they have since gathered momentum and brushed aside everything else in their way so far.

The ‘Light Blues’ currently sit atop Group J on six points after registering 3-1 and 3-0 victories over Haile Selassie and St Jago, respectively, and now only require a point against North Street neighbours Kingston College to book a semi-final spot.

And with their fluent and composed style of play, the Neville Bell-conditioned team seems set to accomplish the assignment and go on to possibly meet the much improved St Catherine-based Jonathan Grant who are also a point away from the semi-final in Group K.

STGC, led by the attacking trio of captain Shevon Stewart, Alex Marshall and Gregory Messam Jr, who have accounted for 46 of their 60 goals in all competitions, are well equipped to go all the way.

The defending Walker Cup champions showed their versatility and

strength in depth on Saturday when playing without Stewart in a 3-1 win against another St Catherine-based team St Jago in the Super Cup.

Marshall, who now has 20 goals in all competitions this season, orchestrated the win with a brace, as they got the better of St Jago

for a third time this season.

“I told the kids that we could do it without the skipper (Stewart). I remember we played a game against Manchester High in the preseason and we never played Shevon nor Alex (Marshall) in the first half (and) I still think it’s the best

half of football we played since we started to train,” Bell told the Jamaica Observer in a post-game interview.

Bell expressed pleasure with the victory despite the team not being as fluent as he would have wanted.

“Thank God for the victory; this is what we wanted… we are in our second final, but we reminded ourselves very quickly that we haven’t won anything yet. We are in a couple of finals (but) we are trying to get to the Manning Cup final and our focus is now Kingston College,” he noted.

And with the current momentum of STGC, it would take a gambling man to bet against them, especially with defending champions Jamaica College being faced with a daunting task of getting the better of Wolmer’s in a crucial Group H contest on Wednesday if they are to advance to the semi-final.

— Sherdon Cowan