Hydel's Head coach Devon Anderson (left) and Neville "Bertis" Bell of St George's College.
A new champion will be crowned in this year’s ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup, as St George’s College denied defending champions Jamaica College a spot in the semi-final for the first time since 2012, after they played out a 1-1 stalemate in their decisive Group two quarterfinal encounter at Ashenheim Stadium on Saturday.
St George’s College entered the contest needing only a point and did enough to ensure they got in when Brian Burkett converted a 45+3-minute penalty. Though Jamaica College pulled on back through substitute Jayd Johnson (59th), stout defending, coupled with some excellent glove work by D’Jone Davis, in goal for St George’s College, broke the hearts of their Old Hope Road-based counterparts.
With the point, St George’s College finished second on five points, two behind group winners Hydel High, who were 3-1 winners over Tivoli High in their fixture at the Spanish Town Prison Oval.
Both St George’s College and Hydel will next face Mona High and Kingston College respectively in the semi-final, with all four teams also set to represent the urban area in the all-island Champions Cup knockout tournament.
Meanwhile, Jamaica College, who ended third on three points, it is on to the consolation Walker Cup knockout tournament, along with the pointless Tivoli, who are defending champions.
Marcel Gayle, assistant coach of many-time champions St George’s College was delighted by the outcome, which he credited to the work done by goalkeeper Davis, in particular.
“I must say credit to Jamaica College, they are a very quality team, fought hard, and it is something that we were prepared for. It was a case of defence versus attack and we defended stoutly, credit must be given to D’Jone in goal, he was fantastic and I think he made the difference for us today,” Gayle said in a post-game interview.
With 53 titles between them, the clash between Jamaica College and Jamaica College was always expected to be a humdinger affair and it didn’t disappoint.
The games started at a good tempo with both teams going at each other in end-to-end action. Jamaica College gradually gained the ascendancy, as they showed more enterprise in attack which resulted in numerous squandered chances.
They should have opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Jabarie Howell was left unmarked deep inside the 18-yard box, but his shot kept out by Davis.
A minute later Jamoy Dennis produced a tidy run down the right channel and played a pass inside to Amarlie King, who couldn’t sort his feet out in time to get a shot on target.
Jamaica College again went close in the 24th when Malachi Sterling combined with King on a counterattack, but the latter again muffed his effort.
The “Dark Blues” of Old Hope Road, thought they had the go-ahead goal on the half-hour mark, but the goal was flagged offside.
As St George’s College struggled to break free, Jamaica College was again denied by Davis, who left his line well to block Tahir Lawrence’s stinging shot from point blank range, in the 35th minute.
Just when it seemed like the teams would go into the break goalless, the “Light Blues” of North Street found the lead against the run of play when Burkett converted from the penalty spot, after Zabir Taylor was felled inside the area by Javaun Mills.
Having paid for their profligacy, Jamaica College now requiring two goals to progress, again came out pressing on the resumption and pulled level 14 minutes in. This, as Johnson got in behind defenders and applied a tidy finish beyond Davis from an angle.
The Davion Ferguson-coached Jamaica College continued to create chances in their push for the winner. The best of those came in the latter stages when Johnson’s freekick was blocked by Davis and three players converged on the rebound but none could convert in time added.
That basically summed up Jamaica College’s Day, and Ferguson was left bitterly disappointed.
“We came out here today with a plan, we created enough chances to win the game and we just didn’t put them away. We’ve had some issues up to and it showed here today. St George’s came here with a resilient spirit, and they deserve to go through, so congratulations to them,” he said.
Saturday’s results
St George’s College 1, Jamaica College 1
Hydel High 3, Tivoli High 1
Semi-Final Matchups
Mona High vs St George's College
Hydel High vs Kingston College
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
Conte embracing Napoli improvements after Como triumph
Antonio Conte is embracing Napoli's recent run of form after they extended their lead at the Serie A summit to four points ahead of the international break.
Scott McTominay's early opener was cancelled out by Gabriel Strefezza, only for star man Romelu Lukaku and substitute David Neres to seal the win after the break.
Conte is now the sixth manager to have won each of his first four home games as Napoli head coach in Serie A, after Paolo Iodice, Luis Vinicio, Alberto Bigon, Carlo Ancelotti and Luciano Spalletti.
The Italian, however, started his Napoli reign with a shock 3-0 defeat to Hellas Verona on the opening day, but his team have since gone seven games unbeaten, scoring 19 goals during that run.
Conte acknowledged that his side may not deserve to be at the top of the table, but felt quietly optimistic about his players' progression during the early stages of his tenure.
"I don't know if this is currently a Napoli that deserves to be in first place in the standings, but we are first and that is a fact," Conte said to DAZN.
"If someone had told me this three months ago, it would have been difficult to believe.
"We're growing in terms of temperament, and in our ability to adapt—playing good football, but also willing to get our hands dirty when we need to.
"That's a great sign, and we have to embrace it fully."
But the encounter against Como was far from comfortable for Conte's side, with the visitors registering 11 shots compared to Napoli's nine, while Cesc Fabregas' men also ended the contest with 59.3% possession.
Napoli, though, created the better chances, ending the encounter with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.02 from their six efforts on target, with Lukaku continuing to flourish under Conte's stewardship.
McTominay's opening goal after 26 seconds was the third-quickest for Napoli in the three-points-per-game era, while the former Manchester United midfielder also became the first Scottish player to score for Gli Azzurri in Serie A.
"We started well in the first half, scoring a great goal, the result of our hard work," Conte said.
"Then we changed things tactically in the second half, and they were no longer in the game.
"We lost too many duels, but that's part of the process of rebuilding confidence and self-esteem."
Conte also showered praise on the home supporters inside the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
"Playing in Naples, at the Maradona, with a full stadium means that the players can really feel the crowd's emotions," he said.
If you make mistakes, you can feel the disappointment, and that can chip away at your confidence.
"Napoli has a deep passion for football. We try to feed that passion by giving our all, like we did today. In the second half, we improved from every point of view."
Sunderland 2-2 Leeds: Meslier howler gifts Black Cats a point
Illan Meslier's last-gasp error saw Sunderland snatch a point against Leeds at the Stadium of Light on Friday.
The home supporters were sent into raptures by one of their own in the ninth minute when Chris Rigg opened the scoring, tucking home from close range after Meslier had produced a miraculous save to deny Dennis Cirkin's previous effort.
But Sunderland's joy was short-lived when Joel Piroe headed Wilfried Gnonto's inviting delivery beyond Anthony Patterson, though replays showed he may have wandered into an offside position.
Both sides continued to push for a half-time lead, with Brenden Aaronson seeing his shot cleared off the line and Patrick Roberts seeing his effort saved to end a pulsating half of action.
The hosts emerged from the tunnel in the ascendency but were met with a sucker punch in the 56th minute when Junior Firpo's driving run from deep ended with the left-back sweeping the ball into the far corner.
But with the clock ticking into the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, there was to be one final twist when Alan Browne's flicked pass into the box somehow evaded the grasp of Meslier to preserve Sunderland's unbeaten home record this season.
Data Debrief: Meslier blunder overshadows Leeds display
Leeds were moments away from going level on points with Sunderland at the summit of the Championship, before a moment of madness sealed a gut-wrenching end to an enthralling encounter in the North East.
The visitors ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.16 from their 15 shots compared to Sunderland's 1.77, with Piroe contributing 0.72 xG to Leeds' tally.
But their display was overshadowed by Meslier's blunder, with the Frenchman enjoying a strong performance up until that point, making three saves against the Black Cats.
Gabbia, Pisilli and Maldini named in Italy's Nations League squad
Luciano Spalletti has handed four players their senior call-up to the Italy national team ahead of their Nations League fixtures next week.
Italy take on Belgium and Israel in the next round of games, hoping to build on their impressive start in Group A2 after winning their opening two games which included a 3-1 win over France.
Milan defender Matteo Gabbia has been included after an impressive run of performances at centre-back under new head coach Paulo Fonseca.
Gabbia is also the first player from the Rossoneri to be named in the Italy squad in almost 600 days, with Sandro Tonali, who joined Newcastle in 2023, the last Milan representative to feature for the Azzurri.
There was also a place in the squad for Monza's Daniel Maldini, who could follow in the footsteps of his father Paolo, and grandfather Cesare, both former Italy captains.
Maldini has one goal and one assist in seven appearances in all competitions this season, and comes in for Lazio's Matteo Zaccagni.
Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio has also been given a first call-up to the senior side, replacing the injured Alex Meret of Napoli.
Roma's Niccolo Pisilli was also named in the squad, replacing Atlanta's Marco Brescianini, who has also suffered a recent injury set-back.
There were five Premier League representatives named in Spalletti's 23-man squad on Friday, with Guglielmo Vicario, Riccardo Calafiori, Caleb Okoli, Destiny Udogie and Tonali also included.
However, there was no space for Liverpool's Federico Chiesa, who did not feature in the Reds' Champions League win over Bologna in midweek.
Italy squad: Michele Di Gregorio (Juventus), Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG), Guglielmo Vicario (Spurs), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Atalanta), Alessandro Buongiorno (Napoli), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Matteo Gabbia (Milan), Caleb Okoli (Leicester), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham Hotspur), Nicolo Fagioli (Juventus), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Niccolo Pisilli (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle United), Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Daniel Maldini (Monza), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Atalanta).
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
