It was tough how Jamaica College’s (JC) ISSA/FLOW Super Cup campaign came to an end on the weekend, but Manager Ian Forbes says that is now a thing of the past as the focus has been switched to their Manning Cup title defence.

JC, who won the inaugural FLOW Super Cup title in 2014, were denied the opportunity to become the first team to hold the title twice, after going down 1-2 to rivals Kingston College (KC) in an intense and drama-filled semi-final clash at Sabina Park on Saturday.

That meeting, which was the third meeting between the two teams across all competitions in the schoolboy football season, saw their rivalry being intensified with KC taking a 2-1 lead in the tie, having earlier defeated the Old Hope Road team in second-round Manning Cup action.

JC had earlier levelled the playing field when dethroning their North Street-based rivals in the Walker Cup knockout competition, which also ended 2-1.

A technically efficient KC were dominant throughout the encounter and asserted their authority with a 2-0 lead through Fabian Grant in the (35th) and a 52nd-minute own-goal by Milton Walford.

And the eventful night was capped off when Tyreek Magee’s late goal was disallowed by Referee Leon Brown, which spurred an aggressive protest from the JC players and officials.

With KC leading 2-1 at that point after Howell had earlier brought JC back into contention with a 90th+2 minute strike, Magee hit a delightful free kick directly into the net, though the spot kick was deemed and indicated by Brown to be an indirect free kick.

But Forbes remains resolute in their defence that the referee made a blunder in declaring the high-boot offence an indirect kick.

“The referee said it was an indirect free kick and I think he made a mistake. As far as I am concerned the offence should have been direct because the player was kicked in the face.

“I am not concerned with whether his hand was up or not, there was a high boot and the player was kicked in his face, so it must be a direct free kick,” Forbes insisted.

“So that was the contention, it was not about whether hand was up or down; the contention was that when the incident happened it should have been a direct free kick. But they say the referee’s decision is final. I think a mistake was made and I really don’t have much more to say about it,” he added.

However, Forbes took solace from the fact that they still have the Manning Cup on their agenda.

“It (Super Cup loss) was tough but that is life; we have to just move on and the attention now turns to the Manning Cup. This has always been the major focus in terms of longevity etc.

“The Manning Cup has been around over a hundred years now, it holds tradition and history and so we are certainly looking forward to it as the big one,” he ended.

— Sherdon Cowan