The remaining 45 minutes of the abandoned game between Excelsior and St George’s College (STGC) is one of three mouth-watering and decisive fixtures scheduled to be contested on a five-match card to close out the ISSA/FLOW Manning Cup first round today.

The game was previously abandoned due to the untimely passing of the late St George’s Captain Dominic James on September 20.

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

Both Excelsior and St George’s College have already secured second-round berths, but the final minutes of the contest, which the former lead 2-1, will decide who will take Group A honours and go on to challenge for the lucrative Super Cup and Walker Cup knockout titles.

The Mountain View Avenue-based Excelsior currently lead the group on 19 points and will be hoping to preserve their one-goal deficit, to ensure the standings remain the same at the end of the 45 minutes.

Excelsior will be riding high on their recent 1-0 win away to the same opponents in a previous meeting, and with their coach being former national captain and defender Shavar Thomas, one can expect that their defensive posture will again prove formidable.

However, many-time champions STGC are very much aware of what is at stake and have proven in the past that they thrive from being in pressure situations. The reigning Super Cup champions pulled themselves from a similar position last year before going on to win the lucrative knockout title.

This is a must-win game for the North Street-based team, as they are currently on 18 points and a point would not be good enough to propel them to them to the top of the standings.

Another top-of-the-table clash will ensue in Group D where leaders Haile Selassie (24 points) and second-placed Jonathan Grant (22 points) will lock horns at the latter’s Spanish Town base.

Both teams have already qualified for the second round, but like the Group A fixture, they will be vying for the coveted spot to venture into the knockout competitions. A point for the Geoffrey Maxwell-led Haile Selassie would confirm their status as group winners, but Jonathan Grant will be hell-bent on taking all three, especially with home court advantage in their favour.

Haile Selassie eked out a close 3-2 win in their previous meeting and another close contest is definitely on the cards with more being at stake for both teams now, in particular last year’s semi-finalists Jonathan Grant.

The battle for the second place spot in Group G will be the other feature on the day, with St Jago (19 points) hosting Hydel (16 points) at Spanish Town Prison Oval.

Should the Ferry-based Hydel, who hold a healthy goal difference of 27, win the contest, they would book the automatic runner-up spot behind group winners Bridgeport, who ended on 23 points.

But St Jago only require a point from the contest which will make things difficult for the Donovan Duckie-coached Hydel who have been struggling to win games.

In four of nine games so far, Hydel were held to a stalemate, including a previous meeting with today’s opponents which ended 0-0.

However, should they yield to another stalemate, all would not be lost for Hydel as they would remain in contention for securing one of the best third-place slots to the next round.

Today’s schedule

GROUP A

Excelsior vs St George’s College

@ Stadium East (remaining 45 minutes)

GROUP C

Norman Manley vs St Mary’s

College @ Maxfield Park

Group D

Jonathan Grant vs Haile Selassie

@ Jonathan Grant

GROUP F

Kingston Technical vs Edith Dalton

James @ Kingston Technical

GROUP G

St Jago vs Hydel @ Prison Oval

*All games are scheduled for

3:30 pm kick-off