2021 finalists The Mannings School got their second win in as many games as action continued in the ISSA Dacosta Cup on Tuesday.
They secured a 6-0 win over Black River at home to move to six points from two games in Zone D. They got a 5-1 win over Grange Hill at the Llandilo Sports Complex on Saturday.
In Saturday’s other Zone D results, Petersfield got a 3-0 win over Belmont Academy at the Crawford Sports Complex while Black River and Godfrey Stewart played to a 1-1 draw.
In Zone E, Maggoty moved to four points from two games with a 1-0 win over Sydney Pagon at STETHS. On Saturday, they drew 1-1 at the same venue with Munro College. In the other Saturday fixtures, STETHS went to Sydney Pagon and won 4-0 while Lacovia and B.B Coke played out a 0-0 draw at Lacovia.
In Zone G, Alphansus Davis and Holmwood Technical secured 1-0 wins over Mile Gully and Alston, respectively.
In Zone H, Lennon High and Edwin Allen got 4-0 wins over Thompson Town and Kellits High, respectively.
Zone I saw Oracabessa secure a 2-0 win over Marcus Garvey at Clemhard’s Park and York Castle secure a 4-2 win over Ocho Rios at Drax Hall.
In Zone J, Wycliffe Martin High and Tacky high played out a 2-2 draw to move to four points and two points from two games, respectively. At Westmoreland Oval, Horace Clark got their first win with a 3-0 result over Annotto Bay while St. Mary High got a 2-1 win over St. Mary Technical at Richmond Farm. On Saturday, Tacky got a 4-0 win over St. Mary High at home, St. Mary Tech got a 2-0 win over Annotto Bay at Richmond Farm and Horace Clarke and Wycliffe Martin played out to a 3-3 draw at Horace Clarke.
In Zone K, Dinthill secured their second win from as many games and handed Charlemont their first loss with an exciting 4-3 win at home. On Saturday, they beat Ewarton 3-1 at the Ewarton Sports Complex. Also on Saturday, Charlemont got a 3-1 win over Enid Bennett while McGrath beat Guys Hill 1-0.
In Zone L, Paul Bogle beat St. Thomas Technical 3-2 at the Eastern Banana Complex to move to six points. Morant Bay and Seaforth are now tied on four points from two games after playing out a 3-3 draw while Yallahs got their first win with a 5-0 hammering of Robert Lightbourne. On Saturday, Paul Bogle went to Robert Lightbourne and secured a 3-1 win while Morant Bay and Seaforth got 2-0 victories over St. Thomas Technical and Yallahs, respectively.
In Zone M, Denbigh High and Old Harbour High got 3-1 wins over Central High and Tacius Golding, respectively.
In Zone N, Vere Technical went to Winston Jones High and secured the biggest margin of victory in the Cup so far with a 9-0 win. Defending champions Garvey Maceo played a 2-2 draw with Kemps Hill at Sabina Park in Saturday’s Zone N fixture.
In Zone O, Titchfield secured a 5-0 win over Fair Prospect while Happy Grove and Port Antonio played out a 1-1 draw at Hector’s River.
In Monday’s Zone B fixtures, eleven-time champions Rusea’s opened their campaign with a 7-0 win over Merlene Ottey while Green Island beat Hopewell 1-0 at the Orchard Sports Complex.
Monday’s lone Zone F fixture saw Manchester High secure a 4-0 win over Mt. St. Joseph at Mt. St. Joseph.
Action continues Wednesday with 10 matches. In Zone A, 12-time champions Cornwall College will host Maldon, Anchovy will host Green Pond while St. James High and Irwin High will do battle at Jarrett Park.
In Zone C, Muschett will host Cedric Titus and Herbert Morrison will host Spot Valley.
Godfrey Stewart will tackle Belmont Academy at home while Grange Hill and Petersfield will square off at the Llandilo Sports Complex in Zone D action.
In Zone E action, STETHS will host Lacovia while B.B. Coke will host Munro College.
Finally, Guys Hill will play Enid Bennett at Tacky in Zone K.
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.
St. Louis City v LA Galaxy: Reus sets sights on silverware after dream start
Marco Reus is desperate to bring silverware to the LA Galaxy after making a flying start to his time in MLS, with St. Louis City the destination for his first road game on Sunday.
Reus registered a goal and an assist on debut last week as the Galaxy beat Atlanta United 2-0, maintaining their grip on top spot in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy are five points clear of local rivals Los Angeles FC at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's trip to St. Louis, who are 13th and 10 points adrift of the playoff picture.
Reus' arrival in Los Angeles has caused plenty of fanfare, but he is focused solely on the team's collective aims.
"It's not about me, it's about the team," he said. "We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.
"Besides the traffic, it's really amazing. The people are so friendly. The weather, it's really nice. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, you start the day differently.
"So I'm really, really happy every morning I come into the dressing room. I'm just happy and excited."
St. Louis played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Portland Timbers last week, twice throwing away a two-goal lead to leave interim coach John Hackworth bewildered.
"Really don't know what to say," Hackworth said. "It's hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up, and then just losing one-versus-one defensive battles.
"Sometimes, the number of goals you give up, or the number of goals you score, can hide a lot of the transition moments.
"An easy way to prevent some of these defensive miscues from happening is to just be better with the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen
Lowen scored his fourth goal of the MLS season last time out, converting from the penalty spot as St. Louis drew 4-4 with the Timbers.
Only Joao Klauss, with five goals, has outscored him for St. Louis this term.
LA Galaxy – Marco Reus
Reus is one of 20 players in MLS history to record a goal and an assist on his regular-season debut.
He is also the fifth Galaxy player to do so, after Steven Gerrard, Andreas Herzog, Giovani dos Santos and Sasha Victorine. No other team have had more than two players achieve the feat.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The Galaxy have won 10 of their last 13 regular-season matches, the first time they have done so in a single season since 2011. LA have not recorded 11 wins in a span of 14 matches within a single regular season in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
It would be no surprise to see the points shared in this one, though. All three meetings between St. Louis and the Galaxy have ended level, all with different scorelines (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).
St. Louis have only won one of the last six matches in which they have held the lead in regular-season play dating back to the beginning of June (four draws, one defeat).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 35.8%
LA Galaxy – 38.1%
Draw – 26.1%
Raphinha hails Barcelona after statement win over Valladolid
Barcelona forward Raphinha believes the team have laid down a statement of their intent by starting the season with four straight wins in LaLiga.
Raphinha scored the first hat-trick of his career and also delivered two assists on Saturday, as Barca crushed Real Valladolid 7-0 at Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick's side already possess a four-point cushion at the top of the table after also recording victories over Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano.
Raphinha believes their results have demonstrated the club got things right in the transfer market, telling Movistar: "Today's game has shown that there is no need for anyone else to come. We are very happy because of that.
"We are in very good shape. The team is working hard. Today's result shows what we are working for.
"We saw that the coach was on the sidelines asking for more goals and that's our mentality.
"We are hungry and want to score as many goals as we can. When we are dominant like we have been, the best way to respect our rivals is not taking the foot off the gas."
Raphinha was one of the players who faced criticism during Barca's trophyless 2023-24 campaign and was rumoured to be on his way out ahead of the new season.
The Blaugrana again battled financial restrictions throughout the window, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to leave in order to secure the registration of new arrival Dani Olmo.
With his future now certain, Raphinha is keen to nail down a starting spot and contribute on a regular basis.
"I don't know if today's was my best game, but it's certainly among my best. I will try to play even better and as much as I can," the Brazilian said.
"I'm very happy to be able to help the team. I feel good. I knew that this season would be very important for me. I'm looking for my best version to help my team-mates and be more confident."
Lazio 2-2 Milan: Leao salvages draw but Rossoneri still winless
Rafael Leao came off the bench to earn Milan a 2-2 draw with Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, but Paulo Fonseca's side are still without a Serie A win this season.
Milan were in front at the break through Strahinja Pavlovic's eighth-minute goal, the Serbian rising highest to power home a header from Christian Pulisic's corner.
However, Lazio hit back in the second half with Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia scoring in quick succession.
Nuno Tavares' first-time ball into the centre was met by the unmarked Castellanos to level in the 62nd minute, then Dia tapped another Tavares cutback home to put the Biancocelesti ahead four minutes later.
Fonseca reacted by sending on four substitutes, and those changes had a swift impact as three of them combined for the leveller.
Theo Hernandez – who joined Leao in being dropped from the start – picked out Tammy Abraham, and his lay-off allowed Leao to escape Tavares to fire past Ivan Provedel.
The game was preceded by an emotional tribute to the man who led Lazio to their last league title, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died at the age of 76 on Monday.
A Lazio shirt bearing the Swede's name was displayed on the home bench, while a banner held up by the home fans read: "You brought us to the top of the world... Have a good trip Mr. Sven."
Data Debrief: Milan's slow start continues
New Milan boss Fonseca is already under pressure after overseeing a return of two points from his first three league games at the helm.
It is the first time the Rossoneri have drawn two of their opening three matches in a Serie A season since 2011-12, when they also drew two and lost one,
They went on to finish second that season, just four points adrift of champions Juventus. If a title challenge is to take place this term, rapid improvements are needed.
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