Fitzgerald

José Marti will be hoping to continue their fairy-tale run in this year's ISSA/Gatorade/Digicel Manning Cup competition when they oppose St Andrew Technical (STATHS) in their rescheduled Group G encounter starting at 3:30 p.m.

In another rescheduled match in Group B, Tivoli Gardens will face Hydel in a top-of-the-table clash at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex.

The Calvert Fitzgerald-coached José Marti, who are unbeaten in the competition after two matches so far, are tied atop the group along with Bridgeport on six points. They are followed by St Mary's College (three) and STATHS and Oberlin, who are yet to gain a point this season.

The St Catherine-based school has so far registered impressive 3-1 and 2-0 victories over Oberlin and St Mary's College, respectively. However, Fitzgerald has acknowledged that this match will be his team's most difficult game of their campaign so far.

"This match is our toughest test to date but I am pretty confident that we can collect all three points from it," said Fitzgerald.

"Our aim is to make it to the second round and so we just have to continue winning all our games and once we do that then, we will be there," he said. Fitzgerald added that his team has been improving steadily this season, which is the main reason why they are currently joint leaders of the group.

"Being at the top of the group has given us a lot of confidence and so we hope to keep the rest of teams behind us, as we head into the return games," Fitzgerald noted.

Captain Carmichael Malcolm, along with Andre Reid, Christopher Salmon, Jermy Nelson and Miguel Ormsdy will lead José Marti's charge for a victory.

On the other hand, STATHS, who have a game in hand, are still searching for their first points in this year's competition.

The Phillip Williams-coached STATHS, who last won the trophy in 1987, were beaten 2-1 by Bridgeport in their opening match.

"This game is very important because all the teams have played two games, and so getting three points here will be a major boost for us," said Williams.

"Despite losing our first game to Bridgeport, the confidence level in the team is very high amongst our players and so I expected us to win this game," Williams added.

STATHS will rest their hopes in the hands of strikers Oren Morrison and David Miller along with Nevardo Wilson and Fabian Powell.