William Knibb registered win number four on the trot in Zone D of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Wata daCosta Cup as they blanked Cedric Titus 3-0 in a lopsided Trelawny derby at the parish’s stadium on Saturday.
Joshua Walker (36th), Jaheem Brown (50th), and Seron Williams (68th) propelled Dewight Jeremiah’s side to another three points as they remain in pole position ahead of Spot Valley, who also made it four-in-four as they blanked Muschett High 3-0 in the curtain-raiser of the double-header.
Both William Knibb and Spot Valley are on maximum 12 points, but the former continues to lead the way by virtue of a superior goal difference. Cedric Titus sit third on six points, and Discovery Bay is fourth on three points, while Muschett and Holland are yet to get on the board.
Jeremiah praised the performance of his youthful squad, which continues to grow with every game.
“The average age of the team is 14.5, but I think we learned from our last game against Discovery Bay that we had to be more creative when teams sit deep. The first goal epitomises what we did in training; we wanted all five vertical zones to be occupied when we attacked, and we had that in terms of the link up play, but the commitment that the boys showed today (Saturday) is above everything that we did, and that resulted in the clean sheet,” the tactician shared.
“Seron Williams is our second-string goalkeeper that we converted into a striker, and I think him and Jaheem Brown are just hugely technical. Joshua Walker also has an immense work rate; I played him at right back last season, and I am just teaching him to understand positional play in the middle of the park, and he soaks up everything,” he added.
Though William Knibb dominated proceedings, it was Cedric Titus that started more spiritedly as captain Terron Eccleston went on a break in the 25th minute and was taken out by a defender at the edge of the 18-yard box. However, the resulting freekick amounted to nothing.
Eccleston again threatened three minutes later as he found space deep inside William Knibb’s quarters for a right-footed effort that just rolled wide of the left upright.
Having heeded the warnings, William Knibb launched a few attacks of their own, the first coming in the 36th when Walker finished from close range after getting on the end of a decent through pass from Koran Henriques to break the deadlock.
William Knibb should have doubled the lead in the 41st when Cedric Titus’ custodian Anthony Riley failed to gather the ball cleanly, but Prince Bernard somehow failed to convert from point blank range.
Still, with a 1-0 lead in their favour at the break, William Knibb were not disheartened and maintained their momentum on the resumption. They eventually doubled the lead five minutes in courtesy of Brown’s ferocious right-footed freekick from just over 20 yards out that had Riley beaten all ends up.
Williams pushed the game beyond Cedric Titus’ reach when Walker placed the ball perfectly into his path for a firm right-footed drive that left the hapless Riley flat-footed.
William Knibb should have had a fourth in the 76th as Riley again spilled the ball. However, Williams effort came back off the crossbar.
Cedric Titus fought on as Eccleston was sent through on goal, but their hopes of pulling one back were dashed as Camoy Phillips, in goal for William Knibb, left his line well to avert the danger.
Wade Crawford, Cedric Titus’ head coach, felt his team was lacking in all departments.
“We started the game slow and I think the game got away from us midway through the first half. It boils down to inexperience and the youngsters are learning the game; we are not as deep as we were last year so we definitely will be getting better but we need to work a little harder on our finishing. So it’s a work in progress,” he stated.
Saturday’s Results
St James High 1, Cornwall College 2
Frome vs Rusea’s (Rained out)
Grange Hill 2, Little London 1
Spot Valley 3, Muschett High 0
William Knibb 3, Cedric Titus 0
Munro 1, STETHS 1
Belair 5, Manchester High 1
May Day 2, deCarteret College 1
Mile Gully 1, Holmwood 2
Central High 1, Clarendon College 0
Garvey Maceo 2, Old Harbour 3
Kemps Hill 2, Porus 0
McGrath 1, Dinthill 1
Ocho Rios 7, York Castle 0