‘The brave may fall …’

KINGSTON COLLEGE (KC) head coach Vassell Reynolds will be drawing from the school’s famous adage ‘The brave may fall, but never yield’ as he looks to inspire his team after their 2-1 loss to Glenmuir High School in the ISSA Champions Cup knockout competition on Saturday.

The famed purples suffered a late heartbreaker at the Catherine Hall Sports Complex as a goal in time added sank their aspirations of a Champions Cup trophy lift this season.

KC last won the Champions Cup in 2019 and the competition was also their earliest chance to end the school’s two-year trophy drought.

Their last schoolboy titles came during the 2021 season when they won the ISSA Manning Cup and Olivier Shield double.

Reynolds said despite crashing out of the competition in the opening round, he was pleased with the performance and effort shown by his players under rainy conditions.

“It was a very good game from both teams,” he said in his post-match interview.

“We had a plan and I think right down to the tee, the boys executed well. It was just unfortunate that we conceded at the wrong time when we couldn’t get back.

“I’m proud of the performance but not the result,” he added.

The focus now for Reynolds and his cohort will be the Manning Cup semifinals where they still stand a chance of ending their season with a title.

KC will take on Hydel in the final four of the urban schoolboy football competition, a repeat of their opening game of the second round this season.

In their first meeting, KC had dismissed Hydel in a resounding 6-1 battering but will not expect their second encounter to be as easy.

Hydel has since recovered from that loss and are enjoying a six-game unbeaten streak which has seen them qualifying for both Champions Cup and Manning Cup semifinals.

Reynolds said he is confident his players will bounce back from their last outing to prove their calibre against Hydel and reignite their push for the Manning Cup title.

“We have to recuperate,” he explained, “It has been heavy footing on the boys, so we have to recuperate and get them together mentally. I am quite certain after a performance like this, they will take heart from it and get themselves back together and get themselves ready for the semifinals of the Manning Cup.”

The Manning Cup semifinals are set for December 3 with a double at the National Stadium with KC taking on Hydel while JC will face St Catherine.