Title favourites Jamaica College (JC) will tackle perennial rivals St Andrew Technical High (STATHS), while Excelsior High take on Eltham High in the semi-finals of the ISSA Wata Manning Cup today inside the National Stadium.

Four teams are hunting two spots for a shot at the coveted Manning Cup, which was started 111 years ago in 1914.

JC is the only of the four schools on show today that competed in the inaugural competition named in honour of the then Governor of Jamaica, William Manning, for the urban schools.

Therefore, it is no surprise that they are the most successful team with 28 titles having won the first six editions and eight of the first nine tournaments, as St George’s College won in 1920.

JC are on a mission and are heavily favoured to win a record-extending 29 titles, but they must first see off the challenge of an STATHS team, hell-bent on revenge, having lost three Manning Cup and a Walker Cup final to JC in recent times under head coach Philip Williams.

In 2017, 2019 and 2022, STATHS lost to JC on penalties and even lost the 2023 Walker Cup final to JC on penalties. It has been painful for Williams and the STATHS community, and today they get another shot at getting it right.

STATHS will be trying to exorcise that JC ghost that have haunted them for the last seven years.

But that won’t be easy as this JC team is a very good one and will not be easily beaten and another heartbreak is in store of STATHS.

Meanwhile, Excelsior High and Eltham High meet in the other semi-final, looking for a spot in the final. Excelsior are a well-coached team under the guidance of Keon Broderick, and it will take a very good performance from Eltham to deny them a spot in the final.

Today’s match-up is a repeat of the 2006 semi-final, the last time both schools reached this far and here they are again, 19 years on, battling for a spot in the final. In 2006, Excelsior won. Will history repeat itself?