CATHERINE HALL, St James — Lenworth Hyde cemented his legacy among Jamaica’s football pantheons on Saturday when he guided Clarendon College to a gutsy 2-1 win over Cornwall College in the final of the ISSA/Wata daCosta Cup at Montego Bay Sports Complex, becoming one of the few to win the title as both player and coach.

Hyde was part of the 1977 Clarendon College team, arguably one of the best-ever assembled, that won the daCosta Cup title, and while he guided them to the Ben Francis KO last year, he never played in that competition which started in 1982 after he had ended his high school career.

Winning as a coach and a player, he said, was “a great feeling”.

“I must lift my hat to players [as] they did it for me,” said hyde. But, importantly also, Hyde paid special tribute to the late Winston Chung-Fah, who coached the 1977 team.

“He is the father, the man who taught me everything, and he was with us on the bench,” said Hyde, a former Jamaica player.

As if to add to the drama on Saturday, Clarendon played the last 76 minutes of the game with 10 players, after starting goalkeeper Tafari Chambers was sent off for handling the ball outside of his 18-yard box and was replaced by a very nervous Alston Cork.

Goals in the second half from national Under-20 players Nique Daley and Lamar Walker gave Clarendon College their eighth hold on the title, while an own goal from Sanjay Williams had tied up the game at one point.

“I told them that we cant lose this,” a jubilant Hyde said afterwards. “We still had the confidence and even when we could not score, we had problems breaking down the Cornwall defence; we had possession and were playing well. I told them to get behind the ball. It was destined for us to win this year,” he went on.

Hyde said he never panicked.

“I felt this one. I knew we were going to win… we have a great support staff that helped as well and who was there all the way, working hard,” he noted.

Clarendon completed a perfect season by winning all 15 games in the daCosta Cup, their only blemish coming in the first round of the ISSA Champions Cup where they were beaten on penalty kicks by Charlie Smith High.

“This is what we worked all year for, this game tonight… these players displayed great attitudes, discipline, and tough characters,” Hyde told the Jamaica Observer.

The work, he said, had started all the way back in the summer, and the journey was long.

“I remember when we were at Mico in the dust bowl and I kept reminding them about the sacrifices they made. Do your part and God will do the rest,” was the mantra, he claimed, he sung to his players.

Saturday’s game was the toughest of the 16 they played all year, says Hyde, despite the loss to Charlie Smith in the Champions Cup.

“This was a very difficult game; you saw how the Cornwall team bad. Cornwall is an excellent team. This was our toughest game all year and we played short, but we were disciplined behind the ball and did everything to prevent them from scoring,” he concluded.