CATHERINE HALL, St James — Garvey Maceo High Coach Merron Gordon is shying away from the ‘favourites’ tag in today’s ISSA Ben Francis Knockout (KO) final against first-timers BB Coke at Montego Bay Sports Complex, set to start at 2:30 pm, the curtain-raiser for the daCosta Cup final.

Gordon and Garvey Maceo High are both going after their second Ben Francis KO title. Gordon had led Lennon High to their only major victory in 2016 and Garvey Maceo High won it in 2007, while BB Coke will be in their first final at any level.

As expected, both coaches report that they are confident and their charges are ready for the big day, where they hope to be the last team standing after the final whistle.

When asked about being considered favourites yesterday, Gordon said: “I don’t know about that, both teams are in the final, we have both worked hard to get here and have beaten good teams to get here as well.”

Gordon is no stranger to finals after taking Lennon High to the daCosta Cup final in 2010, losing controversially in extra time to Rusea’s High at Jarrett Park before beating St Elizabeth Technical in the Ben Francis KO in 2016.

The players, however, will be playing in a major final for the first time, despite winning the Inter-Secondary Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Rural Area Under-16 title last year.

“It’s a final and we know what can happen on the day; the staff has done some good work with the team and we have stressed the mental aspect, we want them to keep focused and not to get too excited or nervous,” Gordon said.

The key, Gordon notes, was for his players to stay “humble and hungry” stressing that the first 15 minutes of the game could set the trend for what is to come, and they would have to be careful at the start.

BB Coke won’t be short of support from the stands, according to Coach Kemar Ricketts, who said at least “six or seven busloads of fans will be heading to the game”.

Despite the school being in a final for the first time, Ricketts said a number of his players were part of the Downs FC team that won the South-Central Super League last season and were not strangers to playing in big games.

“There is no pressure…we are the surprise package this season and Garvey Maceo are the favourites,” he said.

Had the game gone ahead last week when it was originally set to be played, Ricketts could have been forced to sit out a few of his starters who were suffering from dengue, but yesterday he told the Jamaica Observer those players were fully recovered and ready to go.

BB Coke grabbed headlines when they came from two goals down to beat Manchester High 4-2 in their return-leg first-round game, but Ricketts said it was the return-leg of their second-round game against Lennon High that turned their season around and gave them the confidence that they could go far into the season.

“We had qualified for the second round last year but got knocked out and once we got over that hurdle we started to believe in ourselves,” he said, after the Junction-based school beat Lennon 1-0 away for a 2-2 aggregate and advanced on the away goal rule.

Jason Dyer, who scored for them in that game, has led the school all year, scoring 19 goals and will lead the attack today along with Kimani Case and Danyae Whitely.

Garvey Maceo will look to Gregory Cousins, Barrington Blake, Cleo Clarke and Tyreke Henry, all of who scored big goals throughout the season.

— Paul Reid