Kingston College, Jamaica College and Excelsior High all scored massive wins in ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup action on Wednesday.

KC hit seven past Meadowbrook High at Meadowbrook to remain atop Zone C with 13 points from five games.

Elsewhere in Zone C, Campion College dispatched Penwood 2-0 to draw level on 10 points with their opponents who are in second place on goal difference.

Jose Marti Technical edged Cumberland High 2-1 in the St. Catherine derby in the day’s other Zone C clash.

Zone F action saw leaders Jamaica College defeat Bridgeport High 9-0 with Giovanni Taylor bagging four goals as the standout performer. Excelsior High hammered Pembroke Hall 11-0 in the other game from the zone.

In Zone D, Vauxhall High grabbed a late equalizer to secure a 1-1 draw against Camperdown High to remain unbeaten this season.

STATHS displayed a vintage performance as they held firm to secure their third win of the season with a 1-0 victory versus Haile Selassie and remain top of the zone with 10 points from their four outings.

Jamaica College extended their unbeaten run in the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup as they secured a hard-fought 2-2 stalemate with Excelsior in an intriguing Zone F encounter at Ashenheim Stadium on Thursday.

Dyllan John’s brace in the 50^th and 88^th minutes rescued a point for the many-time champions after Kimarly Scott (53^rd) and Damarley Williams (58^th) got on the scoresheet for Excelsior.

With the point, Jamaica College inched up to seven points atop the standing, one point ahead of Ascot High, who moved to six points after they edged Pembroke Hall 1-0 in the curtain-raiser of the double-header courtesy of Oshawny Facey’s 61st-minute strike.

Excelsior sit third on four points, while Bridgeport and Pembroke Hall remain pointless on the five-team standing.

Jamaica College’s head coach, Davion Ferguson, took heart from the performance.

“I’m proud of the performance that we put on. We came up against a very good Excelsior team that got their tactics right in the first half, but we reacted well in the second half, and I think we should have won the game,” Ferguson said.

“I didn’t have to motivate my players for this game; they have the quality and they know what is at stake. But like I said, I think Excelsior are a very good team, they gave us a challenge, and I think we responded well,” he added.

Excelsior were more lively at the start and almost broke the deadlock in the fourth minute when Shadeko Wizzard unleashed a stinging left-footer that rocketed off the left upright.

Jamaica College responded soon after through Giovanni Taylor, who got through on goal in the seventh minute, but his effort was kept out by Jamari Gordon, who left his line well.

Wizzard was again left cursing his luck in the 14^th minute as he rifled another effort from an angle that burst through Nathaniel Aiken’s hands, but the ball came back off the crossbar.

Jamaica College also went close to finding the go-ahead goal when Nashordo Gibbs’ went on the break in the 41^st minute but failed to beat Gordon’s outstretched leg as the score remained goalless at the break.

The ‘Dark Blues’ maintained the momentum on the resumption and found the lead five minutes in when Gordon strayed well outside his area and lost possession to John, who capitalised with an effort from distant that trickled across the line.

Excelsior pulled level three minutes later when Scott finished his third goal of the season with aplomb after Jamaica College failed to clear their line from Wizzard's cross.

The Mountain View Avenue team then surged ahead five minutes later when Williams went on a break down the left channel and had enough time and space to set and slot through Aiken’s legs.

Just when it seemed as if Excelsior had the points in the bag, John broke their hearts as he converted from the penalty spot after Jabari Howell's driven freekick was handled inside the area.

Excelsior’s Head coach, Keon Broderick, welcomed the point but felt they deserved more.

“I’m a bit disappointed that we couldn’t come out here with the three points, but, nonetheless, one point away from home is always good. A point at Jamaica College is definitely something to cheer about,” he noted.

Thursday's results

Jamaica College 2, Excelsior 2

Ascot High 1, Pembroke Hall 0

Wolmer's Boys 8, St Mary's College 0

Edith Dalton 0, Denham Town 1

Tivoli Gardens High 1, St Jago 0

Saturday’s action across six games in the ISSA Manning Cup was truly spectacular, producing 52 goals including a brutal 18-0 victory for Kingston College over Cumberland High at Stadium East to make up for their opening 2-2 draw with Penwood High on matchday one.

DeShawn Byfield and Kajay Fletcher split eight goals between them for the North Street school.

Demario Daley and Kamaul Patterson also had prolific days in front of goal, each securing hat-tricks as KC moved to the top of Zone C with four points and a goal difference of 18.

Jamaica College were also in a dominant mood on Saturday, blanking Ascot High 11-0 to move to w=two wins in as many games in Zone F.

Papine High were also victim of a ruthless beating on Saturday, 10-0 at the hand of St. George’s College at Papine.

STGC takes sole leadership of Zone G ahead of St. Catherine High opened their season with a 4-0 victory against Holy Trinity after being awarded the points for their first fixture versus Norman Manley.

Excelsior High defeated Bridgeport High 7-1 as they prepared for their encounter against Jamaica College in Zone F.

St. Andrew Technical High School held firm and showed resilience as they defeated Calabar High 1-0 at The Boys Town football field in Zone D.

Many-time champions Jamaica College (JC) and St George’s College kicked off their Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association/Digicel Manning Cup campaigns in a positive manner as they blanked Pembroke Hall and Holy Trinity High School 9-0 and 2-0, respectively, on Tuesday.

Jamaica College were led by striker Giovannie Taylor, who scored in the fifth, 45th and 80th minutes. Nashordo Gibbs (39th and 64th) had a brace, while Javaun Mills (72nd), Dujoni Thompson (78th), and substitutes Jamone Howell (87th) and Keshaun-Lee Chin (90th) got the others in the lopsided affair that pleased head coach Davion Ferguson.

“You always want to start with a win because nine goals in any game is a big win, and that was what we wanted to do. The performance, in some parts, I think, was good, but we want to continue to improve and try as best as possible to focus on ourselves and not really look outside, as the external is out of our control,” Ferguson said.

“The aim is to give of our best ever year, so once we give our best, wherever that takes us, we will be satisfied. Our players have matured well, and so I think they will have a really good season,” he added.

Meanwhile, Matthew Spence (10th) and Payton Larmond (61st) did the damage for St George’s College in their comfortable win over neighbours Holy Trinity at Winchester Park.

Assistant coach Marcel Gayle is also anticipating more improvements from his North Street-based team as the season progresses.

“Kudos to the guys; I thought they played well, but I thought we could have been a little more assertive in the final third. We created a lot of opportunities but we needed to be a bit more patient. Nevertheless, the objective was met with three points and the clean sheet,” said Gayle.

Tuesday’s results

Hydel 9, Ardenne 0

Clan Carthy 0, Eltham 5

Ascot 1, Bridgeport 0

St George’s College 2, Holy Trinity 0

Norman Manley 0, St Catherine 3 (St Catherine awarded win as Norman Manley was deemed to have forfeited the game as a result of an unprepared pitch)

Wednesday’s fixtures

Kingston Technical vs Camperdown

Calabar vs Haile Selassie

Vauxhall vs STATHS

*All games are scheduled for 3:30pm

With the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) schoolboy football competitions serving as a feeder for the country's youth programmes, President Keith Wellington believes it is only fair that the schools' efforts are recognised when their respective players are called up for national duties.

Wellington's aired his grievances, as he is of the view that when Manning and daCosta Cup players are mentioned for national duties, they are recognised by their club affiliation and not necessarily by the schools they represent. 

As such, he called on the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to be mindful of this and, by extension, to show the schools and ISSA more respect for their contributions in nurturing and developing these young talents.

“It would be nice when our national youth teams are named; you recognise the schools that these young men come from because we invest so much in them,” Wellington said during the schoolboy football competitions launch at the Stadium East on Wednesday.

“No disrespect to Mr [Rudolph] Speid and other club owners but when a young man turns up to attend national training, the first place he goes is to his coach or principal to say ‘Sir, I don’t have a boots’ or ‘I need fair to go to camp.’

“So give us a little respect and at least say that this boy played for Clarendon College or Mona High in the ISSA competitions because the truth is, without it, as bad Jamaica’s football is now, it would be worse. I’m asking our partners, the JFF, to give us some credit,” he added.

Wellington also urged the Michael Ricketts-led JFF to do their part in assisting ISSA to improve the schoolboy football product.

“Help our competitions be better. Train more referees so we don’t have to take our kids out of school on a Monday to play a match because we have to be spreading the games over five or six days of the week — focus on that,” a seemingly peeved Wellington stated.