A new ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup champion will be crowned after Kingston College (KC) registered a decisive 2-0 victory over reigning titleholders Mona High in their Group A quarterfinal showdown at Stadium East on Friday.

Kvist Paul (8th) and Demario Dailey (70th) did the damage for Kingston College in a win that not only ended Mona's campaign but also propelled the North Street-based team into the semifinals alongside Jamaica College (JC), who trounced Tivoli High 4-0 in a simultaneous fixture at the Ashenheim Stadium.

By virtue of the results, Jamaica College topped the group on seven points, one point ahead of Kingston College (six points), while Tivoli High (three points) and Mona High (one point) will now turn their focus to the Walker Cup knockout competition for redemption.

Kingston College’s Head coach, Vassell Reynolds, lauded his team's composure and execution.

"It was a fantastic performance. We knew Mona would come out strong, but the boys stuck to the game plan and delivered when it mattered. Now, we look ahead to the semifinals, but as always, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. The aim is to keep the boys grounded and focused, and we will see what happens when that time comes,” Reynolds said.

With a lot at stake for Mona in particular heading into the contest, it was expected to be a close affair, but the manner in which Kingston College started ensured otherwise.

In fact, Mona had very little say in the contest as Kingston College’s show of intent resulted in an early strike inside 10 minutes. Damaine Smith delivered a perfectly placed corner kick, which Paul rose to meet and headed past Mona's goalkeeper, Riquelme Edwards.

Mona High, desperate to respond, almost found themselves further behind in the 15th minute when Dailey fired wide from a promising position.

As Mona struggled to contain Kingston College’s tactical discipline and attacking enterprise, Deshawn Byfield almost added his name to the scoresheet but had his effort dramatically cleared off the line by Dante Peralto.

Despite KC’s dominance, Mona’s goalkeeper Edwards produced a string of superb saves to keep his team in contention.

Just before halftime, he acrobatically parried a powerful shot from Kajay Fletcher, diving full stretch to his right, and Byfield failed to capitalize on the rebound.

Seconds later, Edwards was called upon again to deny a stinging shot from Smith.

Matrim Martin then unleashed a venomous right-footer, but Edwards once more stood tall, ensuring the scoreline remained 1-0 at the break. 

The purples continued to assert their authority on the resumption as Dailey threatened in the 68th with a firm shot from close range that went straight at Edwards.

However, the Kingston College striker, sporting the number nine jersey, made amends two minutes later. Sent on his way by a brisk through pass, Dailey powered a low drive past a flat-footed Edwards to double Kingston College’s lead and effectively end Mona’s hopes of a comeback.

Kingston College embodied the spirit of their time-honoured motto, “The brave may fall but never yield,” as they came from behind to defeat Wolmer’s Boys 3-1 in their Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup Group three encounter at Stadium East on Tuesday.

Despite falling behind early to Christano Myers’ second-minute own goal, the “Purples” roared back with resilience through strikes from Matrim Martin (75th), Shareef Ricketts (77th), and Deshawn Byfield (84th) to make it two wins on the trot in the Round of 16 and clinch a coveted spot in the quarterfinals.

They now sit comfortably atop the group of six points, three ahead of Hydel, who edged St Andrew Technical (STATHS) 1-0 in the other group contest. STATHS and Wolmer’s Boys have one point each heading into Friday’s final round of matches.

Winning coach Vassell Reynolds was pleased with the grit and determination displayed by his team.

“Winning our first two games was always part of the plan. We really wanted to lift our standard of play for this round because we knew it would have been more challenging, so I asked the boys for improvements because this is what is required, and I thought they did that in these two games so far,” Reynolds said in a post-game interview.

“Even though we conceded early today, our performance in the second half shows that we have some grit and we have to be able to hang in there and fight, and in the final analysis, the fitness showed, and I thought we did very well in the last 25 minutes of this encounter,” he added.

Wolmer’s Boys started well and grabbed the early ascendancy when a long ball into the 18-yard box was turned in by Kingston College’s defender, Myers.

For Kingston College, it was a moment that called for grit, and they responded without hesitation.

Instead of letting the early goal unsettle them, the North Street boys went on the probe for the equaliser and had a few half chances from which they could have capitalised, but a lack of composure proved their undoing.

The second half was more of the same, as Kingston College, fuelled by the words “never yield,” applied consistent pressure with renewed energy, and they inevitably pulled level in the 75th when Martin tapped home on the second attempt after Wolmer’s goalkeeper Yuri Dryden’s initial save.

That goal shifted the momentum firmly in Kingston College’s favour, and soon they found the lead when Ricketts converted from the penalty spot to send their supporters into a frenzy.

With the writing on the wall for Wolmer’s, who had players forced off with injuries, Kingston College’s third goal was the basically statement, as Byfield fired in his 20th goal of the season after Dryden failed to gather the ball cleanly from Ricketts’ initial attempt.

Despite the loss, Jerome Waite believed his Wolmer’s Boys team gave its best.

“I think they tried their best but at this level you know they are accustomed to errors and a couple of errors cost us as they allowed KC back into the game and they went with the momentum. But we still have another game to play and the most important thing is to see how best we can get back some of these players that came off injured,” Waite said.

Tuesday’s results

Kingston College 3, Wolmer’s Boys 1

Hydel 1, STATHS 0

Mona 2, Campion College 1

St Catherine 3, Calabar 1

Eltham 3, Jonathan Grant 0

St George’s College 1, St Jago 0

Jamaica College 5, Charlie Smith 0

Excelsior 2, Tivoli Gardens 0

Former champions Kingston College continued their rich scoring form in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup as they hammered Hydel High 6-1 to kick start the second round in a dominant manner at Stadium East on Saturday.

Having tallied 71 goals in the first round of the competition, Kingston College showed that they are by no means scored out as they overwhelmed a timid-looking Hydel unit with consummate ease.

Deshawn Byfield led the way with a brace in the 36th and 77th minutes, while Kamaul Patterson (8th), Kvist Paul (20th), Shereef Ricketts (57th), and Zaire Douse (86th) got the others.

Captain Ronaldo Barrett (72nd) got Hydel's consolation from the penalty spot.

The win pushed Kingston College into pole position in Group Three, ahead of St Andrew Technical (STATHS) and Wolmer's Boys on a point each. Hydel will have to play catch up from the foot of the four-team standing as only the top two progress to the quarterfinals.

Winning coach Vassell Reynolds attributed their performance to proper preparation and efficient execution.

"We spoke about our goalscoring exploits, and we rode on it today; we had no doubt that we would have created opportunities; it's just a matter of whether we would have made good use of them, and we did that very well. One of the other contributors to this win is the fact that we were well prepared for this; we did some work against our opponents, and it worked well, and I'm proud of the youngsters," Reynolds said.

It was expected to be a more competitive encounter, and the manner in which Hydel started hinted at that possibility, as Shannon Power got off their first warning shot from close range in the sixth minute.

However, Kingston College quickly found their rhythm and broke the deadlock two minutes later when Patterson headed home at the far post from Jaeshawn Edwards' weighted corner kick.

As the heavy rains poured down, Kingston College unlocked the floodgates, and before Hydel could catch their breaths, they were hit again in the 20th when Paul converted a free header at the far post from another weighted cross, this time from captain Kimani Reece in the 20th.

It should have been three minutes later as Byfield went on the break down the right channel and played a pass across the face of goal, but Damaine Smith failed to apply the finishing touch from close range.

Kingston College again went close in the 26th when Patterson rifled one from a distance, but Daquan Jemison, in goal for Hydel, did well to parry.

The North Street boys inevitably increased their tall courtesy of the menacing Byfield, who tucked away an effort from deep inside the 18-yard box to make it 3-0 at the break.

With a handsome lead under their belt, Kingston College gradually eased up on the resumption, but such was the lack of resistance from Hydel that they continued to score at will. The fourth goal came 12 minutes after the break when Ricketts drove a left-footer past substitute keeper Idrian Robinson.

Hydel eventually showed some semblance of like in attack and pulled one back when captain Barrett converted from the 12-yard spot.

But it was back to regular proceedings for Kingston College two minutes later when Byfield finished a rebound after Robinson pushed Ricketts' initial effort into his path.

And as if things couldn't get any worse for Hydel, Douse, with his first touch mere seconds after coming onto the pitch, drove home a delightful strike on the volley from the top of the 18-yard box after Robinson's weak punch fell perfectly into his path.

Hydel's Head coach, Devon Anderson, was bitterly disappointed with the outcome.

"This is definitely not how we wanted to start the second round but we failed to contest the crosses coming into the box and so we were left with the bitter end of the stick. Football is a game of competing with and for the ball and we didn't do that; Kingston College did so kudos to them," Anderson stated.

Saturday's results

Jamaica College 3, Calabar 3

Eltham 2, Excelsior 3

Kingston College 6, Hydel 1

Campion College 3, St George’s College 0

St Catherine 1, Charlie Smith 0

Tivoli Gardens 5, Jonathan Grant 0