Another gruelling Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Flow Manning Cup season is set to unfold on Saturday, and a number of intriguing match-ups will be on the cards when the ball gets rolling.

This season, by all indications, will feature some of the most competitive first-round duels among the 40 schools across seven groups. They will be vying for second-round berths as they seek to remain in the hunt to capture the emblem of schoolboy football supremacy.

A few changes will be seen this season as schools are now being allowed an outfit of 22 players and five substitutions. Another new component this year will be the introduction of water breaks midway both halves.

While most will argue that the five substitutes rule will work in favour of the prominent schools that have high-quality talent, the so-called “minnows” will also have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Reigning champions Jamaica College (JC) will obviously be at the centre of attention when they open against St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) in Group B, which also hosts Eltham High, Spanish Town and Vauxhall.

The 27-time winners, Jamaica College, are expected to advance comfortably from this group in laying the foundation for the remainder of the competition. The “Dark Blues” will once again be chasing a piece of history as the first school in recent times to retain the Manning Cup title for four consecutive years.

Though the fierceness of the Miguel Coley-coached team remains slightly anonymous, the possibility of the Super and Walker Cup knockout titles also returning to the Old Hope Road institution should by no means be in doubt.

“It’s a tough group because we have some teams who have been improving from last year and should have basically the same teams with a few additions this year, so it is going to be very tough, but we just have to be disciplined, work hard and gain our first objective, which is to get out of the zone,” Coley told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview.

He continued: “Once Jamaica College start playing, our intention is to win all the trophies available, it won’t be easy, but it is about pride and it is a piece of history as well. I believe the players, mentally, are up for the challenge to defend a Manning Cup title and we are going to fight for it with everything.

“In terms of the Super Cup, it would be fantastic to win it again after we lost it last year. I have never won the Walker Cup before, so that is something that from a personal and from a Jamaica College perspective would be great,” he said.

Despite the rumoured addition of a few talented players from other institutions, the anonymity of JC’s unit will have football enthusiasts debating about what is to come in relation to the team’s chances. The race for the runner-up spot should be a close one between STATHS and Eltham.

“We have some quality young players, who are moving up from the Under-16 (level), so hopefully that can materialise in terms of having a good depth, because playing for Jamaica College is enough motivation to get even an ordinary player to do well when they are called upon,” Coley noted.

Last year’s beaten finalist St George’s College (STGC), after being rounded into early season form courtesy of their invitational tournament, should also have a safe passage from Group A against the likes of Excelsior High, Greater Portmore, Tarrant and Tivoli Gardens High.

The North Street-based team has struggled to regain their dominant form of the 2011 and 2012 seasons, having failed to get their palm on the prestigious title since then. However, they have kept a high level of competitiveness alive by claiming a few knockout titles and will now be primed to recapture their glory days.

“It is overdue, but we are not playing alone, we have some really wonderful teams in the competition, and from what we have seen, we should end up winning the zone, then we will meet Jamaica College. We will meet them in the semi-final of the Walker Cup and we meet them in the semi-final of the Manning Cup, if we get there and if they get there,” Coach Neville Bell explained.

“So we don’t think it is going to be easy, the Manning Cup is very difficult to win, but we are always confident and we don’t take anything for granted. A lot of things happened last year with a team that I think played really good football, and as well as we played last year, we got to three finals, but we only won one title,” he added.

Despite losing a few good men, Bell has been privileged enough to retain most of the players from the formidable team that was heavily favoured for the sweep last year. This should result in the many-time champions once again being a force to reckon with, especially with their attacking line-up now set to be boosted by the likes of the nippy Akiiki Jackson, formerly of Wolmer’s Boys, among others.

“I think we have competent replacements, we have some really good kids from last season and we got a couple of kids from other schools who I think they can help us. Gregory Messam Jr is also out with injury and I’m not certain when he is coming back, so I won’t say it’s a totally different team, but we do have a lot of different players and I think we think we will do well,” noted Bell.

Seven-time champions Excelsior, who now has Xavier Gilbert assisted by former national player Shavar Thomas at the helm, are expected to join STGC in advancing to the second round.

Meanwhile, a competitive-looking Group C will comprise last year’s semi-finalists Denham Town High and the highly-touted Kingston College, along with Ascot, Norman Manley, St Mary’s College and Papine High.

The North Street-based Kingston College have struggled to produce a title-challenging team since 1986 when they had their 14th lien on the cup. However, they are said to be boasting a very tough team this year, which is expected to be a serious contender for the title.

The Ludlow Bernard-coached unit, which comprises most of the players from last year, will be boosted by the likes of current and former National Under-17 representatives Omar Thompson and Fabian Grant, along with Othneil Mullings, among others.

“We have high expectations, the only thing is that I don’t really want the pressure to really come down on the players, but then again there is very little I can do about that. But based on pre-season form and performances I think the expectations are justified,” Bernard told the Observer.

If this Kingston College team can transplant the quality on the field as they do on paper, then the “brave” that fell by the wayside in the second round last year, will surely not “yield” at the same stage this year and will be on track to break a 30-year Manning Cup title drought.

This would also result in them being strong contenders for the knockout titles, particularly the Walker Cup, which they last won back in 2000.

Though not expected to repeat their semi-final feat this year, Denham Town should be equipped enough to join Kingston College in the second round.

A wide open Group D will host the likes of Jonathan Grant, Ardenne High, Haile Selassie, Meadowbrook, Pembroke Hall and St Catherine High.

Jonathan Grant, a semi-finalist from last year, will be aiming for a repeat of their previous effort, which could see them progressing to the second round.

The second spot will be up for grabs, but should be between Ardenne High and what is expected to be another young Haile Selassie team now under the guidance of veteran Geoffrey Maxwell.

Despite going through a rebuilding phase, former champions Charlie Smith High should marshal proceedings in Group E, which comprises Holy Trinity High, Clan Carthy, Kingston High, Mona and Waterford High.

The Jerome Waite-led charges, who contested the final in 2011 and 2014, will be hard-pressed to repeat this season, and, by extension, surpass the famous triple-crown winning team of 1995.

However, like they have over previous seasons, Charlie Smith could again prove a formidable opponent.

“This season it is about a development process, we have only retained five players from last year, so it’s another new beginning for some youngsters. Although we have not seen or heard anything about the other teams, the objective is to come out of the zone and move into the second round,” Waite explained.

Meanwhile, Walker Cup champions Wolmer’s Boys, who last won the title in 1994, should have little worry in topping Group F against Camperdown High, Dunoon Technical, Jose Marti Technical, Kingston Technical and Edith Dalton James.

Vassell Reynolds, coach of the Heroes Circle-based team, is cognisant that each team will possess a high level of competitiveness, regardless of their status.

“We recognise that this is quietly a competitive group… one would think that apart from Camperdown, the other teams don’t really carry a name per se, but I know that they are quite capable of winning games. So through our preparations, we have been emphasising that we want to focus this year on playing games and not teams and hopefully we can start on the right footing,” Reynolds reasoned.

The 10-time winners will be fielding a squad filled with a mix of youth and experience to be boosted by Mario Salesman, Mikel Graham, Tafari Anderson and Shane Reid from Calabar, Jamie Smith and Valdano Moulton from Jamaica College and Yannick Elliott and Andrew Daley from St Jago.

Wolmer’s should be joined by three-time winners Camperdown in going forward.

Finally, Group G, which hosts the likes of Bridgeport High, Calabar High, Campion College, Cumberland, Hydel and St Jago, is a very intriguing one. This is certainly the most competitive group of the first round and should be closely contested.

It is anybody’s guess who the top two teams will be, but based on consistency over the past few years, Hydel with the experienced Donovan Duckie now at the helm are favoured to marshal proceedings with St Jago and Calabar set to battle for the second position.