Despite conceding for the first time this season, last year's beaten finalist St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) extended their unbeaten run in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup with a 4-1 beating of Excelsior High in a Group D top-of-the-table clash at Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Saturday.
A brace from Leon Brown (2nd, 68th) and one each from Kalonji Watson (47th) and Andre Salmon (70th), made the points safe for the Bumper Hall-based team. Jkivann Salmon (75th) got Excelsior's consolation.
With the win, STATHS are now sole leaders of the group on 15 points, three ahead of Excelsior, who were suffering their first defeat of the season.
Winning coach Phillip Williams expressed pleasure with his team's progress so far.
"I am very happy today was a good test for my team, I think the Excelsior team is a good team and we embrace these types of games, and the boys showed their quality today. This is a more mature team, so we keep doing what we have been doing and it's paying off. We have another shot to win the title this year and we will give it our best try," he said in a post-match interview.
It was a frantic start by STATHS, as Brown picked up a loose ball and worked his way around two defenders before unleashing a stinging left-footer from the top of the 18-yard box that gave Jadavin Waul, in goal for Excelsior, no chance at a save.
Though STATHS bossed possession from there and had a few chances from which they could have converted, Excelsior were not without hope and did play their game but found the Bumper Hall team's defence in defiant mode.
As the score went unchanged at the break, STATHS, like they did at the start, came out spiritedly on the resumption and doubled the lead two minutes in when Watson fired home from the top of the 18-yard box, beating Waul all ends up.
They continued to apply consistent pressure and pushed even further ahead courtesy of Brown, who applied an easy finish from close range to a Dwayne Atkinson pass, moving his tally to 10 goals this season.
And before Excelsior could catch their breaths Salmon delivered another punch when he fired home while under pressure from two defenders.
However, the Mountain View Avenue-based team gave their fans something to celebrate, as Jkivann Salmon finished off a well-worked build up with a sweet right-footed strike from deep inside the 18-yard box, beating STATHS's custodian Jaheem Williams, at his near post.
Excelsior's Head coach Keon Broderick took heart from his team's performance to an extent.
"The goal we scored is evident that we have quality in the team. But credit must be given to STATHS the way they transitioned and came at us really quickly. I also thought we could have done much better defensively, but as we move on into the latter stages I think we will be much better," Broderick said.
Meanwhile, defending Walker Cup champions Tivoli High were among other winners on the day, as they moved to the top of group B thanks to a dominant 7-0 win over Cumberland. The win saw Tivoli up to 10 points from four games, one point more than defending champions Jamaica College.
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Stefano Pioli urges AC Milan to get Serie A title challenge back on track
AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli admitted his side must get their Serie A title challenge back on track with victory in Saturday’s home game against Frosinone.
Just one win in their previous five league matches has seen Milan slip six points behind leaders Inter and four behind second-placed Juventus.
A home Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund in midweek left Milan bottom of their group and while they can still qualify for the knockout stages with one game to play, the pressure is mounting on Pioli.
The 58-year-old former Lazio, Inter and Fiorentina head coach told a press conference: “Frosinone are doing very well and have confidence, (Eusebio) Di Francesco is doing a great job.
“They are aggressive, but we know how to cause them problems. We want to win, and we need to. We need points, the league campaign is long.
“As usual, we’ll need to show concentration, determination and quality. We need to show we are still competitive and put in a good performance.”
Milan beat Pioli’s former club Fiorentina 1-0 at the San Siro last week to halt a domestic league run of two draws and two defeats and a slump in form has coincided with a lengthy injury list.
Pioli was without half a dozen key players for Tuesday night’s loss to Dortmund and saw defender Malick Thiaw forced off early in the second half.
Thiaw will not feature against Frosinone and Olivier Giroud is still suspended, while Rafael Leao, Noah Okafor, Pierre Kalulu, Simon Kjaer, Marco Pellegrino and Mattia Caldara are unlikely to feature.
Pioli added: “There are still 25 league games to play. I told the players not to come in on Thursday to Milanello if they didn’t believe we could reach Inter and Juventus.”
Frosinone boss Di Francesco has injury concerns of his own as his 10th-placed side bid to halt their poor away form, with Luca Mazzitelli, Riccardo Marchizza, Pol Lirola, Francesco Gelli and Marco Brescianini all doubtful.
Frosinone’s impressive start to the season after promotion has been built on five wins and a draw in seven home league matches, but they are winless on the road.
Di Francesco told a press conference: “We need to get this obstacle out of our heads. We made the last point (on the road) in Salerno (in September).
“We need to try to approach the away match with the right attitude. Here at home, however, we feel stronger when going to face our opponents. This way of thinking certainly needs to be changed.”
Aston Villa complain to UEFA over ‘shocking behaviour’ of Legia Warsaw fans
Aston Villa have lodged an official complaint with UEFA over the behaviour of Legia Warsaw fans ahead of the Europa Conference League clash at Villa Park.
Almost 50 people were arrested following violence involving the visiting fans prior to kick-off on Thursday night.
Missiles were thrown at police as the Polish supporters were held in a coach park near the ground before they were due to enter the stadium.
West Midlands Police said four officers were injured and, although the game started on time, no Legia fans were allowed in ahead of kick-off.
Villa also accused Legia officials of a “complete lack of cooperation” with themselves, the police and UEFA.
Villa said in a statement: “Aston Villa can confirm it has lodged an official complaint with UEFA over the conduct of Legia Warsaw Football Club and the behaviour of their supporters prior to last night’s UEFA Europa Conference League match at Villa Park.
“Four police officers were injured and 46 Legia supporters arrested after unprecedented violence by the Polish fans outside the stadium.
“This shocking behaviour followed Legia club officials’ complete lack of cooperation with West Midlands Police, Aston Villa and UEFA throughout the day.
“It started during the standard pre-match operational meeting that commenced at 10.30am on Thursday morning and was attended by UEFA representatives, including UEFA’s security team, as well as West Midlands Police including representatives from both clubs.
“Legia Warsaw refused to confirm if they would accept their allocation of tickets for the match at that point. This is in stark contrast to normal UEFA operational procedures.
“They advised the meeting that they would meet with their supporters at 2.30pm and communicate the decision at 3pm, but advised there was a possibility that they would not accept the tickets.
“Despite repeated requests before and after the 3pm deadline for a decision, there was no communication until 4pm when Legia informed Aston Villa that they wished to receive their ticket allocation.
“These tickets were handed to Legia officials immediately upon their arrival at the stadium at 6.16pm. To reiterate, Legia officials were advised on a call that included a number of UEFA representatives on November 2 that they would receive an allocation of 1,002 – exactly four weeks prior to last night’s fixture.”
Chris Heck, president of business operations at Villa, said: “The lack of cooperation and prevarication from Legia Warsaw officials prior to the match was entirely unacceptable and deeply disappointing.
“This behaviour increased the danger that West Midlands Police officers and our own fans were subjected to before the game and the scenes of disorder from the Legia fans have no place in modern football or civilised society.
“Aston Villa will be making further representations to UEFA in order to ensure that other clubs and police forces across Europe are not exposed to similar serious safety risks at the hands of Legia Warsaw.
“We are immensely grateful to West Midlands Police for keeping our supporters and our local community safe last night and are pleased that they will also be making their own representations via the UK police authorities to UEFA.”
West Midlands Police chief inspector Tim Robinson said on Thursday evening: “This should have been a great evening of football which was enjoyed by fans from both clubs.
“Unfortunately, there were appalling scenes which saw away fans dangerously throw flares and other missiles at our officers.”
He said the “extreme violence” left police with no other choice but to prevent away fans entering the stadium, adding: “The safety of everyone is our priority, and clearly we had no other option.”
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