Calabar High School and Camperdown High signed off the preliminary round of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup on a positive note as they played out a 1-1 stalemate in their final Zone D encounter at Red Hills Road on Saturday.

Jahreem McKenzie fired Camperdown in front in the 25th minute, but that effort was cancelled out by Jayden Perry (30th), who ensured Calabar remain upbeat heading into the second round for the first time in seven years.

With the point, Calabar ended second on 23 points, two points behind STATHS, who blanked Haile Selassie 5-0 in the other group contest. Vauxhall (13 points) ended third ahead of Camperdown (12 points), Haile Selassie (12 points) and Kingston Technical (zero).

Calabar’s Head coach Andrew Price was pleased with the effort of his fringe players.

“It was basically an audition for some of the players that didn’t get any playing time throughout the round. So we took a look at them as we go into the second round, and I must say well done to the team for this round, but the work just begins now; we have to be steadfast and resolute in our preparation for the second round because we know we are going to come up against tougher opposition,” Price said in a post-game interview.

Despite already being through to the next round of the competition, Calabar were in no mood to relent, as they were spirited at the start and looked more threatening in open play of the early exchanges. They created a few half chances but couldn’t get on target.

That allowed Camperdown to break the deadlock against the run of play when McKenzie got on the end of a through pass and confidently finished his third of the season.

However, the lead was short-lived as Calabar pulled level when Camperdown’s goalkeeper Roshawn Gilroy failed to advance to a loose ball and Perry capitalised with a close range finish to also register his third of the season.

The second half offered very little to write home about, though Calabar asserted their authority on the contest and bossed possession. Still, chances were at a premium, as the Red Hills Road boys only had a couple half looks on goal, which amounted to nothing.

The stalemate left Camperdown’s coach, Karume Huie, beaming with pride at the strides made by his young team, though they missed out on the second round.

“Yes, disappointed that we didn’t make the next round, but in live you see a light at the end of the tunnel and so I am proud of my boys. I gave some 13- and 14-year-olds a chance to play in this game, so it’s a work in progress, and we will bounce back stronger next year,” Huie declared.

Saturday’s results

Calabar 1, Camperdown 1

STATHS 5, Haile Selassie 0

Mona 1, Charlie Smith 0

Vauxhall 6, Kingston Technical 2

Jamaica College 7, Bridgeport 1

Former champions Kingston College and Calabar continued their upward trend in Group A of the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup, as both registered 2-0 and 3-0 victories over Camperdown and Charlie Smith respectively at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Wednesday.

Both Kingston College and Calabar, who lost their opening contests, have rebounded nicely with these being their second win on the trot in a competitive group that is expected to go down to the wire for the top two positions.

In the opening contest, Alex Hislop (fourth) and Kelvin Brown (65^th) got the job done for Kingston College over Camperdown, while Javel Watson (20^th), Fitzroy McLeod (79^th) and Kimani Thompson (90+2), were on target for Calabar in the feature encounter.

With the win, both Calabar and Kingston College moved to six points, along with leader Hydel, who hammered Penwood 10-0 in their fixture. Charlie Smith remains in fourth on three points, with Camperdown and Penwood yet to put a point on the board.

After Hislop fired Kingston College in front, the tempo of the young North Street-based team dropped significantly but picked up when the game resumed from a short break due to severe weather conditions.

Kingston College should have added a second from the penalty spot, but Dejuan Green tried to be too fancy and hit the 12-yard kick wide, as the score remained 1-0 at the break.

The purples continued their dominant show on the resumption and though Camperdown tried to play their game, the failed to really trouble Dominic Robinson in goal for Kingston College.

Vassell Reynolds’s side eventually added to their tally when Brown waltzed his way around three defenders before finishing a right-footer with aplomb to seal the win.

Though not impressed, Reynolds welcomed the improved second half display and, by extension, the win.

“I think we rose to the occasion; it is still a work in progress, but the youngsters are learning very quickly. I am pretty satisfied with how they recovered from the first half. I thought the break helped us really, we were giving away possession of the ball and we lacked the composure in the first half, but they came out and equipped themselves in the second half,” Reynolds said in his post-game assessment.

His counterpart Lebert Halliman cited indiscipline for his team’s defeat, their second of the season. They also have against Hydel in which they are down 0-5 to be completed.

“Indiscipline is why I took off my captain because he wasn’t playing his role. But overall, I think the team did well, it’s a young team and a long season, so it’s a learning process for them,” Halliman said.

The feature contest was much more eventful, as both Charlie Smith and Calabar were evenly matched for the most parts.

Both displayed individual flair and some colorful plays in patches, but it was Calabar that proved the most clinical in the end.

The Andrew Price-conditioned Calabar opened the scoring in the 20^th minute when an unmarked Watson, easily headed home at close range from a Jaheim Rankine cross.

They almost doubled the lead 12 minutes later, as Sheridan Wilson’s stinging right-footed shot from a distance had Deonte Gary, in goal for Charlie Smith beaten, but the effort came back off the crossbar.

With no changes to the scoreline at the break, Charlie Smith showed more purpose on the resumption in their hunt for the equalizer. However, they not only found themselves with a numerical disadvantage when they lost Gary to straight red in the 61^st minute for stomping on an opponent, but they also found themselves with a two-goal deficit to make up.

This, as Anthony McDonald’s weighted free kick found McLeod, who made no mistakes.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, Thompson rubbed salt on an already wounded Charlie Smith with an easy close range finish in time added.

Wednesday’s results

Zone A

Kingston College 2, Camperdown 0

Charlie Smith 0, Calabar 3

Penwood 0, Hydel High 10

Zone B

Meadowbrook 3, Cumberland 2

Jamaica College 3, Spanish Town 0

Zone D

Excelsior 7, Cedar Grove 1

Bridgeport 2, Clan Carthy 1

Zone E

St Catherine 7, Edith Dalton James 0

Innswood 2, Holy Trinity 0

Mona 9, St Mary’s College 1

Camperdown High strengthened their position atop Group B by moving to a perfect nine points from three matches after securing a 2-1 win over STATHS in their 12:00 game at Stadium East.

Elsewhere, Dunoon Technical came back from two goals down to earn their first point of the season against Jonathan Grant in the 12:00 game at the Spanish Town Prison Oval. Jonathan Grant remains second in Group B with seven points from three games.

In other Group B results, Tivoli High scored a 2-0 win over Jose Marti at the Spanish Town Prison Oval and Excelsior beat St. Jago 2-1 at Stadium East.

Meanwhile, in the Dacosta Cup, a clash between the top two teams in Zone A saw William Knibb beat Herbert Morrison 4-1 in their 1:15 encounter at Irwin High thanks to a hat trick from Mark Lewis. William Knibb is now in sole possession of first place in the zone with a perfect nine points from three games, while Herbert Morrison remains second with six.

Cornwall College and St. James High played out a 0-0 draw in the second game of the day at Irwin. Elsewhere in Zone A, a double header at William Knibb saw Irwin beat Holland 3-2 and Spot Valley defeat Maldon 2-0.

On the other hand, in a battle of the bottom two teams in Zone C, Maggotty High secured a 4-0 win over Mount St. Joseph in a 3:30 fixture at STETHS to secure their first points of the season. Maggotty captain Rohan Palmer opened the scoring in the 22^nd minute with a right-footed shot from just outside the 18-yard box. Their lead was doubled in the 48^th minute by Andre Ennevor. Raheem Williams came off the bench to get goal number three in the 82^nd minute and the scoring was completed two minutes later by another substitute, Robinho Barrett.

Maggoty High head coach, Xavier Hendricks, was happy with the result.

“The aim today was to get the three points and I’m happy with the three points, just to get some points on the table for the upcoming games that we have.”

In Zone E, Clarendon College were awarded a 3-0 win over Claude McKay as the latter failed to show up to their clash scheduled for 1:15 at Turners Field.

Lennon High secured a 3-2 win over Glenmuir in the 3:30 game at Turner's Field to move to the top of the zone. Lennon and Clarendon College now both have seven points with Lennon ahead on goal difference. Those two are closely followed by Glenmuir and Edwin Allen who are both on six after Edwin Allen got by Denbigh 2-1 at Glenmuir for their second win of the season.

The Zone G double header at York Oval in St. Thomas ended without any goals. In the first game, Paul Bogle was held to a goalless draw by Happy Grove and the game between Seaforth and St. Thomas Technical followed the trend.