Jamaica College and Mona High both scored big wins as action in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup continued Tuesday.
30-time champions Jamaica College got their 2022 campaign off to the best possible start with a 13-0 hammering of St. Mary’s College at home to take the early lead in Group B.
St. Jago High secured a 2-0 win over Cedar Grove at the Spanish Town Prison Oval while at the Bell Chung Oval, St. Catherine High came away 3-0 winners over Holy Trinity High in the other Group B fixtures on Tuesday.
At the Mona High School field, the hosts were 9-0 winners over Kingston High to kickstart their season.
Other Group E results saw Hydel go into Papine High and secure a 3-0 victory while Wolmer’s Boys secured a 2-0 win over Camperdown High at home.
STATHS, Tarrant and Jonathan Grant were all winners in Group D. STATHS got the better of Norman Manley 2-0 at Maxfield Park. At Tarrant, the hosts got a 2-1 win over Spanish Town while Jonathan Grant beat Dunoon Technical 1-0 at home.
In a Group F double header at Excelsior High, Campion College and Clan Carthy played out a 2-2 draw in the first game. The second game between Excelsior and Kingston Technical ended in the same score-line. Cumberland secured a 1-0 win over Jose Marti in the lone Group F fixture on Monday.
The tournament began with a double-header at Sabina Park on Saturday with defending champions Kingston College beating Calabar 5-1 and 22-time champions St. George’s College securing a 6-0 win over Ardenne High in Group A. On Monday, Waterford beat Meadowbrook 3-0 at home in the other Group A fixture.
Monday also saw three Group C fixtures as Vauxhall suffered a 0-3 loss at the hands of Tivoli High. Bridgeport went to Edith Dalton James and got a 3-2 victory and Charlie Smith played out a 0-0 draw with Haile Selassie.
Action continues Thursday with nine matches. In Group A, Ardenne will host Kingston College, St. George’s College will visit Meadowbrook while Waterford will host Calabar.
Group C action will see Charlie Smith and Bridgeport locking horns at the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex, Edith Dalton James hosting Tivoli High and Vauxhall visiting Haile Selassie.
In Group F, Campion College will host Jose Marti, Clan Carthy will battle Kingston technical at the Alpha Institute and Excelsior will host Cumberland.
Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
Fiorentina 2-2 Napoli: Kvaratskhelia keeps visitors' slim European hopes alive
Dethroned Italian champions Napoli's hopes of playing European football next season are hanging by a thread after they played out a 2-2 draw at Fiorentina in Serie A on Friday.
Napoli took the lead in the eighth minute through defender Amir Rrahmani, who nodded home a corner by Matteo Politano.
Cristiano Biraghi levelled for Fiorentina in the 40th minute from a free-kick, before M'Bala Nzola put the hosts in front two minutes later when he fired a shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Napoli's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia responded with another stunning free-kick early in the second half to rescue a point for his team.
Eighth-placed Fiorentina, on 54 points and with a game in hand, are five points behind Lazio in seventh.
They can still earn a Europa League spot either by leapfrogging the Rome side or by winning the Europa Conference League final in which they face Greece's Olympiakos on May 29.
Ninth-placed Napoli, on 52 points, still have a slim chance of making the Europa Conference League playoffs.
Data Debrief
Fiorentina left-back Biraghi has now scored six goals from direct free-kicks since the start of 2021-22, which is behind only James Ward-Prowse (seven) - now of West Ham and formerly of Southampton - as the most across Europe's top five leagues in that period.
Kvaratskhelia also levelled via a direct free-kick, making this the first Serie A match in which both teams scored via that route since Fiorentina against Lazio in April 2018 (Jordan Veretout and Luis Alberto in that case).
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Marc Skinner signs Manchester United Women contract extension
Marc Skinner has signed a one-year contract extension as Manchester United Women head coach with the option of a further 12 months.
The 41-year-old guided United to their first major silverware last weekend with victory over Tottenham in the Women's FA Cup final.
United are fifth in the Women's Super League with one game to go - a massive drop on last term's runners-up finish - but Skinner will stay on.
"It's an honour to extend my stay at Manchester United," Skinner, who was appointed in 2021, told United's official website after the news was confirmed on Friday.
"I've always felt at home here, with our excellent players, staff, and fans.
"Being able to secure the team's first major trophy at Wembley was a real career highlight for me and another sign of our continued growth, on and off the field."
United conclude their campaign on Saturday against Chelsea, who lead Manchester City on goal difference entering the final day.
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