A new National Knock-Out Cup Champion will be crowned on Saturday October 11, when GC Angels battle Caribbean Maritime University Spartans for the coveted cup at Duhaney Park Mini Stadium. Kickoff is at 4pm.
GC Angels took care of defending champions Duhaney Park Red Sharks with thrilling 20-18 win in semi-finals one last Saturday while CMU Spartans progressed to their first KO Cup Finals with a come from behind 32-14 rout of West Kingston Hyenas in the second semi-final.
Both teams play a flamboyant brand of rugby league, regularly throwing the ball around to find space on the edges for their blistering back line players. The Angel’s will look to national winger Adrian “Speed Lion” Thomas to do the damage out-wide, while prop forward Antonio “The Destroyer” Baker, the most prolific try scorer in the history of rugby league in Jamaica, is expected to dominate the middle of the park with his booming runs.
CMU will rely on the guile of play makers Linval Green and Alpacino Mignott to move them around the park. The two have combined well throughout the competition and will need to be at their best to unlock GC’s aggressive defence. Out wide, hulking national center Kevin “Roosta” Thomas is expected to do damage with his speed and power on the edges.
In the third place game at 2pm, Duhaney Park Red Sharks find themselves in unfamiliar territory as it’s the first time in 5 years they are not in the finals. They are heavy favourites to take care of upstarts West Kingston Hyenas who are playing their first season of rugby league.
Commenting of the competition to date, JRLA Director of Rugby Romeo Monteith said;
“The competition has lived up to expectations with teams within 10 points of each other in every match except one. It’s pleasing to the rise of teams such as CMU and West Kingston in the competition and it speaks to the ever improving abilities of players across the board. The finals will an excellent advert for rugby league and fans are in for an exciting and competitive game.”