They may have lost the battle in the ISSA/FLOW Manning Cup final, but getting this close to breaking a 30-year title drought could be considered a minor victory for St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS).

The Spanish Town Road-based school failed in their bid to dethrone Jamaica College and claim their second hold on the prestigious title which they last won in 1987, after going down 3-5 on penalties.

David Smith had earlier found the equaliser for STATHS in the 40th minute, after Shaniel Thomas’s 29th-minute strike sent Jamaica College in front as the teams battled out a 1-1 draw in full and extra time in a pulsating finale at the National Stadium on Friday.

It was their third meeting of the season, having played out similar 1-1 stalemates in earlier fixtures.

But amidst their disappointment, Head Coach Phillip Williams and a few of his players put on a brave face as they defied the odds to make it to the main event on the backs of an unbeaten run.

“We would have liked to win the title this year, but it was not to be; it is just unfortunate that the youngster missed, but I can’t blame them. they had a good season and I am very proud of them and this is definitely something to build on going forward.

“I am a little bit disappointed, but as I said before, these guys went in a competition and they weren’t expected to make it this far, and they did just that and went against all the odds and quiet some of the analysts and did a good job today (Friday),” Williams told journalists.

“I don’t think anything much went wrong for us; we played well, we played to what was planned and we pushed the defending champions all the way to the penalty shoot-out. We knew that at that point it could go either way and unfortunately for us the result didn’t go our way,” the tactician added.

Goalkeeping Captain Jeadine White concurred.

“I am a little bit disappointed, but the truth is that they didn’t outplay us, no team has outplayed us this season and that is a positive that we can take into next season. So we just have to look past this loss and come again next season.

“We made it this far based on the cohesiveness of our team; we are like a family in this team and that has assisted us a lot throughout the season, and with more of the same hopefully, we can go all the way next season,” White asserted.

“This is nothing to look down about, so I just have to look past it and recuperate because I can help my team on Sunday. So that is what I am looking forward to now,” the young Cavalier SC goalkeeper added in reference to his Red Stripe Premier League game against Reno FC at Frome Complex today.

— Sherdon Cowan