Many questions have been raised about St George’s College (STGC) in this year’s Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/FLOW Manning Cup competition, and those answers could start to be answered when the many-time champions bow into action in one of six games scheduled for today.

All games are set to kick off at 3:30 pm.

STGC, last year’s beaten finalist, are highly favoured to top Group A, and should open their account on a positive note, despite playing away to Tivoli Gardens High at Edward Seaga Sports Complex. In the other group fixture, Tarrant High will be hoping to bounce back from their heavy 0-4 defeat to group leaders Excelsior High (three points), when they host Greater Portmore at Jasicera Park.

After an extensive preparation phase aided by their invitational tournament and the Roper Cup competition, STGC should now be primed to regain their dominant form of the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and could sweep all three titles on offer.

The North Street-based team has retained most of the players from the formidable team last year, with the addition of the nippy Akiiki Jackson, formerly of Wolmer’s Boys’, among others to boost the attacking line.

Though expected to easily finish the first round with maximum points in their usual competitive demeanour, Coach Neville Bell is taking nothing for granted.

Tivoli Gardens are no fluke and have been making steady improvement over the years, which will see them gunning to upset the apple cart.

“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. So we know it’s going to be even tougher this year, but we look forward to it and we expect everyone to come hard,” Bell noted.

“We are always relaxed and we never relax….we play in a relaxed way because I think that is the way to get the best out of them, but we don’t relax thinking we have everything easy. We are STGC and it is a complement to us that everyone comes hard against us; we wouldn’t have it any other way,” he added.

With the withdrawal of Spanish Town High from Group B, St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) will host Eltham High in the lone contest in the group, while Jamaica College and Vauxhall will be idle today.

STATHS, who are said to be boasting a competitive team, will be aiming to secure their first victory of the campaign following a 0-2 defeat at the hands of champions Jamaica College. But Eltham have been raring to go and will also be confident of bagging all three points, as they are expected to once again give a good account of themselves this season.

In Group E, former champions and leaders Charlie Smith (three points) could make it two-in-two, when they welcome Clan Carthy at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.

The Jerome Waite-conditioned team is expected to be boosted by a few players who missed the first game in their 2-1 defeat of Mona High. Waite is confident that his charges will improve as the season progresses, and a much-improved performance is on the cards, having now shaken the first-game jitters.

Clan Carthy, on the other hand, might still be carrying a few lingering bugs after their first game was cancelled due to the withdrawal of Kingston High. With very little being known about the Deanery Road-based team, one can expect a close contest until proven otherwise.

The other group game will see Holy Trinity being at home to Mona High at the Santos/Bell Chung Oval. ‘Trinity’ lost their opening contest 0-1 to second-placed Waterford, and this Mona contest represents no easier task, which could see the points going either way, if not being shared.

Waterford (three points) were scheduled to face the withdrawn team and will be idle.

Meanwhile, the lone Group F fixture will see Edith Dalton James, who suffered back-to-back six-nil hammerings by joint leaders Wolmer’s Boys’ School (six points) and Camperdown High (six points), respectively, playing at home to third-placed Kingston Technical (one point).