Amidst the excitement of Wolmer’s Boys’ first title success this season, Coach Vassel Reynolds stressed the importance of remaining focused with a tough Manning Cup semi-final contest against rivals, Kingston College brewing.

Reynolds’ statement came shortly after his team claimed their first hold on the coveted ISSA/FLOW Super Cup title, with a 1-0 win over favourites Cornwall College in the final at Sabina Park on Saturday.

The inform Alphanso Gooden, like he has done all season, once again came up big to end the lucrative competition with six goals when he notched the all-important strike on the stroke of full-time. The win propelled the Heroes’ Circle-based boys to the 24-lb, Italian-designed trophy and $1 million.

The victory took on added significance as it also extended the reign of the urban area teams for a third-consecutive year, as they join Jamaica College and St George’s College in proclaiming the Manning Cup’s dominance over their daCosta Cup counterparts in the lucrative “Champions League of Schoolboy Football”.

“We are very happy that we represented the urban area quite well, but we want to remain focused and composed because we still have a lot of work to do. So we just want to celebrate and then get back to work for the semi-final on Saturday,” Reynolds told journalists in a post-game interview.

“After celebrating on Monday (this) morning at devotion, we have a couple of days to relax, but again we want to remain focused and committed and we want to keep our feet grounded. This (title) would have been one of our goals for this season, but we still have a lot of work to do,” he added.

The giant-killers achieved a seventh-consecutive victory on the biggest stage of them all in spectacular fashion when they dented the impeccable record of their Montego Bay-based opponents in a riveting, end to end encounter in the battle of the cities.

It was a colourful display of good quality, both in attack and defence by both teams, as they each dished out as much as they received. However, it was the maroon and gold-clad boys from Kingston, who came out celebrating, after obliging with a critical hit when the Montegonians dropped their guard.

Though claiming the underdog status prior to the contest, Reynolds dispelled claims of their victory being an upset.

“I thought it was a great team effort, I have never felt so confident going into a game and I asked them to give me a perfect game. It wasn’t perfect, but I thought the team worked very hard. It was a tough one (and) Shemar Jemison (goalkeeper) came up big for us at times and I thought we scored at the right time.

“It may be an upset to some, but we were always confident. We knew it was going to be a tough game and Cornwall were very good, but we played a good, balanced game. And I thought we gave them too much room to operate at times, but we held our own and this is a happy moment… this is one for the Wolmer’s community,” he noted.

With one title accounted for and two more still to play for, Wolmer’s remain on course to repeat their famous triple-crown achievement of 1971, but Kingston College now stand in the way of their moving closer to that repeat.

The semi-final contest will be the third meeting between the two this season, with the ties locked at one game apiece. KC drew first blood in a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win, dispatching the defending champions from the Walker Cup knockout competition, but Wolmer’s roared back with a 1-0 scoreline in the quarter-final stage of the Super Cup.

Since their only blunder against the North Street-based rivals, Wolmer’s have been a model of consistency across all competitions, which would now have rated their chances very highly.

“I don’t think we are really wearing the target on our backs but, like I said, we just want to remain focus and try to get the job done quietly. All I am asking of the boys is just give of their best at all times,” said Reynolds, who is also employed as physical education and social studies educator at the institution.