KINGSTON, Jamaica – After being associated with Clarendon College football since the mid-1970s and leading them to several daCosta Cup, Lenworth Hyde says Wednesday’s ISSA daCosta Cup Round of 32 game against the Clarendon-based team is “just about football” and nothing else.

Hyde has led Clarendon College football team through the Ben Francis Cup and Olivier Shield titles.

He is now in his first season as the head coach of Dinthill Technical and will be facing Clarendon College in a competitive game for the first time, but says there will be no sentiments when the first whistle goes off.

“We are going there to win a football game, as we are hoping to go far into this competition,” he told the Observer Online on Monday.

In years gone by  games between these two schools would have attracted thousands of spectators, as well as top media houses, given the high quality players on both rosters.

Between 1977 and 1981, both schools combined for four daCosta Cup wins, two each.

Both Dinthill Technical and Clarendon College won their opening games in the Round of 32 on Saturday, beating Port Antonio High and York Castle High respectively.

Dinthill Technical, who were runners-up in their first round zone to McGrath High, edged Port Antonio High 1-0, while Clarendon College, who won their first round zone were 3-0 winners over York Castle.

Between 1975 and 1977 Hyde was involved, as a player for Clarendon College, in several heated battles against  Dinthill Technical.

He reminded  Observer Online, “we always won that game” but admitted that the game was always one of the toughest in the first round.

-Paul Reid