Garvey Maceo appeared poised to claim all three points against Central High after racing to a brisk two-goal lead in their Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Wata Group B quarterfinal clash in May Pen.
However, a resilient Central High team clawed their way back, forcing Garvey Maceo to settle for a 2-2 stalemate and a share of the spoils in a dramatic Clarendon derby on Saturday.
Antwone Wright (36th) and Ean Noel (60th) were responsible for Central High’s comeback after Omarion O’Brian (1st) and Everald Swaby (8th) did the early damage for Garvey Maceo.
With the result, things remain evenly poised in the group as all four teams—Garvey Maceo, Central High, Ocho Rios, and Munro College—are on a point each in their hunt for the top two spots to the semi-finals.
Garvey Maceo’s Head coach Lester Hibbert, expressed disappointment with his team’s inability to hold onto their early lead but acknowledged Central’s resilience.
“It is just a few goals that resulted in the two goals that we conceded that cost us the three points. But apart from that, the boys played brilliantly; we just have to shake this off, regroup, and come again for our next game on Tuesday,” Hibbert said.
The match started with a bang, as poor defending from Central High allowed O’Brian to break the deadlock with a firm finish from just inside the 18-yard box with a mere 15 seconds on the clock.
Just seven minutes later, Swaby doubled the lead with a well-placed left-footed strike from Christopher Mundle’s cross, sending Garvey Maceo’s supporters into a frenzy. With such an explosive start, it looked as though the game might be a lopsided affair, with Garvey Maceo controlling possession and Central struggling to keep up.
But as the first half progressed, Central High settled into their rhythm and began pushing back, eager to avoid an early defeat in this critical quarterfinal contest.
Their persistence paid off in the 36th minute when Wright again got in behind Garvey Maceo’s high defensive line and finished a precision shot beyond custodian Garfield Tomlinson to reignite Central’s hopes.
That goal energized Central, who ended the half with renewed confidence and a more organized defence.
Central maintained their momentum on the resumption and eventually pulled level at the hour mark when Dellan Briscoe placed a pass on a platter for Noel, who finished a firm left-footer that left the Garvey Maceo fans stunned.
Garvey Maceo regained their rhythm and both teams pressed for the winning goal but were unable to make the most of their few half chances and had to settle for a point.
For Central High’s Jermaine Douglas, the draw felt like a victory after a difficult start.
“It was the worst possible start for us; the last thing you can do is concede in the first minute, and we managed to do that, and then we again conceded after that. But I think once we settled we made better decisions in the final third and we probably should have won this game,” Douglas noted.
While the aim is to gauge the readiness of players, Neville "Bertis" Bell says the focus around the St George’s College Cup, is also to raise and nurture their aspirations and expectations for the upcoming schoolboy football season.
That he said, not only goes for his team, but for the other coaches who are using the invitational tournament, which started in 2011, as part of their preseason preparations to improve their chances of rural, urban and possibly, all-island supremacy later this year.
For this year's staging of the two-day event, host St George’s College will square off against Manning Cup semi-finalist Mona High, beaten daCosta Cup finalist, Central High, as well as Christiana High.
Action is scheduled to begin om Saturday at Winchester Park, with Central High opposing Christiana at 2:00pm, while Mona and St George’s will lock horns at 4:00pm.
On Sunday, Mona and Central High will do battle at 2:00pm, with St George’s and Christiana to meet in the 4:00pm feature contest.
"Interestingly, we have never repeated a team from the very first year until now...new teams every year. Central High are beaten daCosta Cup finalist, Christiana did well, Mona got to the semi-final last year and St George’s College were fifth overall. So the tournament is important for us and the other teams because it provides the opportunity for coaches to take a better look at players that they maybe not certain of and its close enough to the season to take it fairly seriously," Bell told SportsMax.tv.
"Maybe long ago coaches started to look at compositions of their teams, but tournament like these really gives us an opportunity to zoom in on some stuff because we are playing against quality teams, so it helps to gauge players readiness," he added.
All four teams are expected to walk away with something from the tournament, sponsored Derrimon Trading through their Refresh Water product.
The winner will pocket $100,000 and the runner-up $70,000, while the third and fourth-placed teams will receive $50,000 and $40,000 for their efforts respectively.
St George's are defending champions, with Jamaica College, Wolmer's Boys and the National Under-17 team, among previous winners.
"We feel it is a tournament to look forward to, just a couple of games, but even if you don't win, you still come out with something to go towards your programme," Bell said.
"I don't know about the other teams, but we have a good crop, we retained about 14 or 15 players who played Manning Cup last year and six or seven of those are starters. So we are not in a bad position, but it's pre-season so we will have to wait and see how we perform," he ended.
It will be an All-Clarendon final in this year’s daCosta Cup as Clarendon College and Central High got penalty-shootout wins over the Manning’s School and Manchester High, respectively, in the semi-finals at STETHS on Wednesday.
Clarendon College will get a chance to win their 10th daCosta Cup title and first since 2019 after booking their place in the final with a 5-4 penalty shootout win over the Manning’s School in the first semi-final.
Manning’s took the lead in the 19th minute through a brilliant strike from Jhamaleek Porter before Keheim Dixon equalized for Clarendon College in the 52nd minute.
That score-line held through regulation meaning the finalists would have to be decided via a penalty-shootout. In the end, Clarendon College recovered from missing their first penalty in the shootout and held their nerve to eliminate last year’s finalists.
Their opponents in the final will be Central High who also needed a penalty-shootout to beat Manchester High in the second semi-final.
Central High took the lead through a close-range strike from captain Dylane Clarke in the 24th minute before Manchester equalized through a Nickoy Bartley penalty in the 55th minute.
Their game also ended 1-1 meaning penalties were needed once again. Through 10 penalties, each team only had one miss meaning they entered sudden death. A miss from Manchester’s Tyrese Douglas then set up an opportunity for Central to book a spot in their first ever daCosta Cup final which captain Clarke grabbed with both hands by comfortably slotting home the winning penalty for a 5-4 triumph.
The final will be played on December 3 at 4:15pm at STETHS.
Meanwhile, a new champion will be crowned in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup after Jamaica College and STATHS got wins over Mona High and defending champions Kingston College, respectively, in Tuesday's semi-finals at the National Stadium.
STATHS, who lost 2-4 to KC in last year's semis, got their revenge with a 3-2 triumph in the day's second game. Shakeone Satchwell opened the scoring for STATHS in the ninth minute before Rashaun Frankinson doubled their lead in the 25th. Nashordo Gibbs cut the deficit to one in the 31st minute before Dwayne Atkinson restored their two-goal lead in the 65th minute.
Dujuan Richards closed the gap again in the 89th minute but that was too little too late.
Joining STATHS in the final will be 30-time champions Jamaica College who got a narrow 2-1 win over Mona High in the earlier game. Donhue Mitchell struck in the sixth minute to give Mona, playing in their first ever semi-final, the early advantage.
JC responded as Tarick Ximines scored the equalizer in the 30th minute before Kevaughn Wilson converted a 58th-minute penalty to secure the victory.
The final will take place on December 2 at 6:15pm at Sabina Park.
This will be the third time in the last six seasons that JC and STATHS have contested the Manning Cup Final, with JC winning both previous meetings in 2017 and 2019.
Manchester High, Clarendon College, Central High and the Manning’s School have advanced to the semi-finals of this year’s ISSA/Digicel daCosta Cup.
Clarendon College and Manchester are the form teams heading into the final four having won all three games in their respective quarterfinal round groups to finish with nine points. Group B winners Clarendon College also failed to concede a goal.
Second place in Group B was taken by Central who will be in the semis for the first time in their school’s history after getting a crucial 2-0 win in their final game over Edwin Allen at Foga Road on Monday for their only points of the round. It ended up being enough in the end as they advanced on goal difference after finishing level on points with Dinthill and Edwin Allen.
Last year’s beaten finalists, the Manning’s School, are once again in the final four after getting six points from their three games in Group A while group winners Manchester High are back in the daCosta Cup semis for the first time since 2016.
Both games will be played at STETHS on November 23.
Manchester will play Central at 2:00pm before Clarendon College and Manning’s lock horns at 4:00pm.
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