Former champions Kingston College produced a five-star performance to open the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup quarterfinal round in commanding fashion as they blanked Tivoli High 5-0, while reigning champions Mona High and Jamaica College played out a 1-1 stalemate in the Group A double-header at Stadium East on Friday.

A brace from Damaine Smith (3rd and 19th) and one each from Matrim Martin (32nd), Kamaul Patterson (45+3) and Deshawn Byfield (51st) got the job done for Kingston College in the lopsided feature contest.

Meanwhile in the curtain-raiser, Sean Leighton’s 35th-minute strike for Mona High was cancelled out by Jamaica College’s captain Dyllan John, who converted a 65th-minute penalty to secure his team a share of the spoils.

With the result, Kingston College took command of the group on three points, while Jamaica College and Mona trail with a point each. Tivoli will have to play catch up from the foot of the four-team standing.

Kingston College were always favoured to take three points off Tivoli High, and they did so with consummate ease in what was a showcase of their offensive prowess and defensive strength as they overwhelmed the opponents from start to finish.

The famed purples wasted little time to break the deadlock as Smith got on the end of a weighted pass and easily fired past Daniel Bailey in goal for Tivoli High.

Their precise passing and tactical awareness kept Tivoli on the back foot, and it was another of those passes from the back that sent Smith on his way to complete his brace with another simple finish.

That brace set the tone for what would be a long and arduous game for Tivoli High, who soon found themselves 3-0 down when Shareef Ricketts’ weighted corner kick picked out Martin at the far post and the Guyanese made no mistakes from goalmouth.

Struggling to find any answer to the waves of attacks that Kingston College unleashed, the West Kingston team were left visibly demoralized as another weighted freekick from Ricketts eluded defenders and Patterson capitalised at the far post to make it 4-0 at the break.

The second half saw no reprieve for Tivoli High, as Kingston College continued to drive forward with confidence and added to their tally six minutes in when Byfield fired home after Smith’s effort burst through the hands of the hapless Bailey.

Tivoli High tried to play their game when Kingston College eased up a bit, but their offensive efforts were always easily thwarted by the North Street-based team’s backline long before they posed any real threat.

Kingston College’s Head coach, Vassell Reynolds, praised his players for their discipline and focus.

“We really wanted to get three points today because that put us in good stead to push on for the remainder of this round, and I thought the boys responded well and did pretty well. So I am pretty satisfied with our conversion rate and the overall performance,” Vassell said in a post-game interview.

Tivoli’s assistant coach, Lance DaCosta, believes a lapse in concentration resulted in the loss but backed his team to bounce back against Mona and Jamaica College.

“I think we struggled defensively; we made too many errors, and they cost us. At this stage we should be more mature and more focused, but we just have to motivate them and try to win our next two games to advance,” he said.

Earlier in what was one of the season’s most anticipated clashes, Mona forced the initiative and camped out in Jamaica College’s quarters in the early exchanges. They took a few cracks at target, which tested Taywane Lynch, but the Jamaica College custodian proved equal to the task on each occasion.

Jamaica College eventually found their footing in attack and thought they had the go-ahead goal in the 28th when Giovanni Taylor fired home from close range, but it was controversially called back for an offside.

Mona eventually grabbed the ascendancy when Leighton finished his fifth goal of the season with aplomb after Robino Gordon’s effort was saved to make it 1-0 at the break.

However, Jamaica College pulled level five minutes past the hour mark when John fired home from the 12-yard spot after being awarded a controversial penalty.

Friday’s results

Mona 1, Jamaica College 1

Kingston College 5, Tivoli High 0

St Catherine 3, Campion College 0

Hydel vs Excelsior (Postponed)

Hydel High will meet Mona High in the final of the ISS/Digicel Manning Cup following a 5-4 penalty shootout win over Kingston College (KC), after both teams played out a 1-1 stalemate in regulation time at Sabina Park on Friday.

Hydel found themselves 2-0 up at halftime, thanks to goals from Keyanni Jackson (3^rd) and Omario Henry (23^rd), but Kingston College fought back in the second half and managed to force the game into penalties, thanks to strikes from Damaine Smith (51^st) and Alex Hislop (70^th).

However, Hydel maintained their composure best during the shootout and converted all five 12-yard kicks, while Kingston College’s Kimani Reece had his effort saved by custodian Tajarie Lee, who was a member of the North Street-based team last season.

This will be Hydel’s second ever time contesting the urban area showpiece, following their feat in 2012, while Mona is making their first ever final. It is also the first time since 2016, a school apart from Kingston College, Jamaica College and St George’s College, will be crowned.

The final is set for Saturday December 8 at the National Stadium.

Winning coach Devon Anderson was over the moon about the accomplishment, having previously tried and failed with Holy Trinity.

“Words cannot express my feeling, as one spectator said, ‘coach you have been knocking at the door over the years.’ It is now cracked, and we intend to open it, so this is a joyous day for the Hydel family.

“Not a lot of people gave us a chance, but I believed in the boys, and they believed in what we are trying to do, and it paid off. We know Mona is a very good team, but hydel will come and do what Hydel does, grind very hard,” Anderson said in a post-game interview.

It was a frantic start by Hydel, who made their intentions clear with a few quick warning shots, before they eventually found the target in the third minute.  Jackson was allowed too much space to dribble, and he duly obliged by driving home a right-footer from about 20 yards out.

With that being Jackson’s eighth goal of the season, Henry went on the hunt for his and should have had it in the sixth minute when he executed a delightful first touch to a long pass from the back, but the finish lacked the same quality, as it sailed over the crossbar.

But Henry made amends in the 23^rd, when he rounded a defender and rifled a right-footer from an angle Malique Williams, in goal for Kingston College.

Sitting pretty on a two-goal lead, Hydel got somewhat complacent on the resumption, and paid for the drop in tempo when a poor clearance found Smith, who drove home a left-footed effort.

And Kingston College pulled level 19 minutes later through Hislop, who picked up a pass and slotted home and it took the dreaded penalty shootout to decide a winner.

Kingston College’s Head coach Vassell Reynolds was pleased with his team’s effort despite the outcome.

“We started a little too slow, which is something we spoke about before and it happened again here and we never recovered quite well, but I am proud of the boys and the way they fought to come back from two goals down and lose on penalty. We still have the semi-finals of Champions Cup, so let us hope we do better there,” Reynolds said.