Excitement is building as defending and many-time champions Clarendon College seek to cement their veteran status by outclassing this season’s debutants Mona High in the match-up this afternoon for the coveted Oliver Shield.

The Olivier Shield is played between the winners of the Corporate Area Manning Cup and the rural area DaCosta Cup and this year’s edition will feature a debutant and seasoned favourite.

Mona High outlasted Hydel High in a historic final that saw two teams who have never previously won the Manning Cup title go head-to-head for the first time since 2011. Mona High scored in minute-10 of the final played on December 8 at the National Stadium.

Mona High have now become the 15th school in history to secure the storied Manning Cup and will seek to extend their fantastic season if they win the battle for the Olivier Shield.

Clarendon College, however, is no stranger to being this far into the schoolboy football competition. Having won the DaCosta Cup 11 times, including defending the title this year in an enthralling final against Glenmuir on December 9, the rural school has demonstrated extreme prowess throughout the season and its footballing history.

Clarendon College goes into the Olivier Shield match-up as the defending champions, having beaten Jamaica College in last year’s season finale, which they will be looking to defend with the same fervour that saw them hoist the DaCosta Cup for two consecutive years.

The Mona High defenders will have to contend with Clarendon’s lethal talisman Kaheim Dixon, who netted a glorious hat-trick in the DaCosta Cup final and will be looking to stamp his class on this game as well. They will, of course, also look to stop Jahmelle Ashley, who is also extremely proficient at goal-scoring and had a brace in the final. Mona High’s offense only managed a single goal against Hydel High and it is imagined based on Clarendon College’s penchant for goal-scoring, that a single goal would be deficient against the defending champions.

The last time a new winner was crowned in the Olivier Shield was Bridgeport, back in 2006, when they shared the title with Glenmuir. Mona will be looking to break that streak. This match-up is particularly enticing as both champions went through their respective competitions undefeated and only lost in the knock out Champions Cup, with Clarendon College not falling until the final. This would mean that the winner of the Shield will be undefeated through their main competition and remain such for the entire season.

In previous editions, the Olivier Shield was played over two rounds, with each team getting a home match. However, with the addition of the Super Cup, which is now the Champions Cup, it has now become one-match, winner-take-all affair.

The curtains come down on the exciting schoolboy season at the National Stadium as the two teams will take the field to contest the Olivier Shield at 5pm local time.