Tradition and pride are two major components of Jamaica College’s (JC) success story, and both will be at stake when they battle St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) in the ISSA/FLOW Manning Cup final at the National Stadium today.

The defending champions have always set sail in the season on their age-old tradition of being number one in the Manning Cup, with their pride anchored firmly by their grit and determination.

Like it was in 2015 against St George’s College, their pride again took a hit in the ISSA/FLOW Super Cup competition when they went down to their other North Street-based rivals Kingston College 2-1, this time in the semi-finals.

But the “Dark Blues” have proven time and again that they are not one to let their banner fall that easily, and they will be determined to regain that pride at Old Hope Road.

JC, who have already claimed the Walker Cup knockout crown, are now seeking their seventh Manning Cup title in the last 10 years — fifth consecutively and their 29th overall hold on the prestigious trophy.

They are also poised to repeat their 2014 triple-crown success, this time with the Walker Cup instead of the Super Cup.

Head Coach Miguel Coley pointed to that factor as their motivator heading into the showpiece event, as they seek to maintain their reign as the Corporate Area kingpins.

“The only thing about the Super Cup loss is just the end factor of it, you never want to lose a game, but we moved past that as quickly as possible knowing that we had lost. We are now in the final and we are ready to give it our best to once again claim three titles, we are confident… not being arrogant or anything but we are confident that we can go out there and win the game,” Coley told the Jamaica Observer.

According to Coley, despite the ups and downs in what has been a very unpredictable season, where they lost their unbeaten Manning Cup run dating back to 2011, added significance is always placed on having his team peak at the crucial stage.

“This is a tournament, so we have to know at what time do we really want our players to be playing their best game, and it is always down to the three last games which are all important.

“It is not that we don’t want to play good football right throughout, but we have to really let the players work hard for their positions so that they can push each other better, and then when we get to this point we will have the best team playing good football,” he noted.

When quizzed about the ingredients behind their success over the years, the tactician quickly revealed that intensive planning has been the most integral part of their successful programme.

“We have a template that we work with and a strong team off the football field with support from the Old Boys and the management team. We are also mindful of how we use the players throughout the rounds and what is important to us in terms of having a team to win four or three titles.

“When we assess that, we then say what do we give, probably Walker Cup, but never Manning Cup because this is the most important one,” the former national assistant coach explained.

With that said, Coley is hoping his team can now set the record straight against their Spanish Town Road-based opponents in this their third and final meeting of the season, after playing out 1-1 scorelines in their two preliminary round meetings.

“Having played in the final for so many years, that counts for something; we are tough and formidable campaigners and we expect for them to go out there and give a good showing,” he asserted.

“But they (STATHS) are honing their craft and their skills, so we expect it to be a difficult game. We respect them (as) they have been very good… last year they were very difficult to beat, this year was the same.

“So we have to concentrate at a high level and obviously we have to play very good and manage the game as best as possible. We are expecting a tough game but we train towards that and we hope that we will be able to go out there, execute and win,” Coley ended.