DEFENDING champions St Richard’s Primary and Pembroke Hall will meet in the 2019 IDEAL Finance Corporation Limited Kingston and St Andrew Primary Schools Association (KSAPSA) football final today at Melrose School, starting at 1:00 pm.

Today’s final is a repeat of last year’s when St Richard’s pulled off a tense 9-8 penalty shoot-out win to clinch an exciting game after the teams were locked at 2-2 at full and extra time.

Both teams are currently unbeaten coming into today’s showdown and both coaches are confident of winning.

Byron McLeod, coach of St Richard’s, said it promises to be another tough match similar to last year.

“We have not met since the start of the season’s competition but have faced each other in a preseason warm-up match that drew 2-2. Pembroke Hall has some quality players, but St Richard’s as champions should approach the game confidently to retain the title,” McLeod said.

He said the players he would be relying on mainly are his leading scorer for the team, Kyle Bodden, who plays forward and has so far scored 12 goals.

According to McLean, St Richard’s have so far scored 28 goals and conceded six and the aim is to score early and put Pembroke Hall on the defensive.

Ziedone McLean, who plays midfield and has scored six goals, is also another player coach McLean expects to perform well along with support from Nicholas Findley, and the entire team.

Meanwhile, opposing coach Bryan Folkes said the team better able to convert their scoring chances should come out victorious.

Folkes claims that Pembroke Hall have so far scored 25 goals and conceded only three and their leading goal-scorer Jabarie Howell, with nine, including two hat-tricks, is expected to lead the charge for his team from the left-wing position.

Howell should be looking for added support from Duwayne Burgher, with six goals playing at central midfield, and Sohail Handell, the overlapping defender with three goals.

—Gerald Reid