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)
Reigning champions Mona High produced a six-star performance to start the second round of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup as they hammered St Jago High 6-0 in a lopsided Group One affair at Stadium East Field on Friday.
A brace from Javier Dunn (30th, 56th), and one each from Denzel McKenzie (11th), Demarion Harris (37th), Carlton Brown (67th), and goalkeeper Riquelme Edwards with an 83rd-minute penalty conversion, did the damage for Mona High.
The win saw them take an early lead in the group, which also includes Campion College and St George’s College.
Earlier, St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) came from behind to hold Wolmer’s Boys to a 2-2 stalemate in the curtain-raiser of the double-header. Both STATHS and Wolmer’s Boys have a point in Group Three, with Hydel and Kingston College set to lock horns in the other group fixture on Saturday.
In the feature contest, Mona were always favoured to come out tops given their impressive run of form so far this season, while St Jago progressed as one of the best third-placed teams.
It took Mona little time to assert their authority on the encounter as McKenzie drove home a firm effort from just over 20 yards out for his 13th of the season.
The lead was doubled in at the half-hour mark when Dunn slammed home a right-footer past Adriano Lawrence in goal for St Jago to finish off a decent build-up.
Harris then got in on the act seven minutes later as he fired home after St Jago failed to clear their lines from a corner to put Mona 3-0 up at the break.
The one-way traffic continued on the resumption as St Jago’s lone clearest shot on target was Reece Roman’s 54th-minute shot from a distance.
Two minutes later, Dunn extended Mona’s lead when his intended cross swirled towards goal and left the hapless Lawrence beaten all ends up.
As if things couldn’t get worse for St Jago, Brown struck what might arguably be the goal of the season as he unleashed a delightful drive from the top of the centre circle that gave Lawrence no chance at a save.
Edwards then capped the win with an easy conversion from the 12-yard spot after Brown was felled inside the danger area.
Earlier, STATHS came from behind twice, including a stoppage time equaliser to deny Wolmer’s Boys three points.
Wolmer’s opened the scoring in the seventh minute when captain Daquan Duhaney comfortably slotted home from close range.
However, the lead was short-lived as STATHS pulled level through Kennardo Gordon, whose deflected effort flew past Wolmer’s goalkeeper Yuri Dryden.
Wolmer’s regained the lead in the 34th minute courtesy of Alex Wright’s easy tap-in.
STATHS launched a series of attacks in the hunt for the equaliser and would have had on a few occasions, but for some excellent glovework by Dryden, who literally three his body on the line to keep Wolmer’s in front.
But, STATHS were not to be denied, as they inevitably got back on level terms when Ajetai Marshall fired home in the 90+5 minute to keep his team in the hunt for a quarterfinal berth.
The top two from each group will contest the quarterfinals.
Mona High School will contest their first ever ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup final after they downed their more fancied rivals St George’s College 2-1 in a keenly contested semi-final encounter at Sabina Park on Friday.
The dynamic duo of Romarion Thomas (39th) and Denzel McKenzie (56th), got the job done for the Craig Butler-coached team, which had over the past two seasons placed the competition on notice in terms of their improved quality and, by extension, ambitions to stop all that came before them.
In fact, it was an 42nd-minute own-goal by Mona High’s goalkeeper Ackeem Bernard that placed St George’s College on the scoresheet, and that Butler said spoke to their defensive fortitude, particularly in the second half.
Mona will meet the winner of the second semi-final between Kingston College and Hydel High.
“It should be a staple for any intelligent team, you have to have that component in your artillery, and we used it well. The boys played out their hearts and we are totally elated, the boys put in a lot of hard work and to get there (in the final), I am really happy for them,” an emotional Butler said in a post-game interview.
Following a stellar performance against Clarendon College in the Champions Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday, expectations would have been high that a repeat of that effort, would be good enough to put St George’s College into a long overdue final.
However, Mona with the fresher legs, used it to good effect, as they started brightest and caused a few early problems for St George’s defence, but failed to capitalise on the half chances.
It was not until the backend of the half that the deadlock was eventually broken when a long diagonal ball found Thomas, who made no mistakes from close range for his ninth goal of the season.
St George’s College pulled level three minutes later when Zabir Taylor was allowed time and space at the top of the 18-yard box to pick a spot and curl a right-footed effort that came off the crossbar and then off Bernard on its way in, to keep the game evenly poised 1-1 at the break.
Much like they did at the start, Mona were again more spirited at the top of the resumption, and regained the lead 11 minutes in, when McKenzie drove home a thumping right-footed freekick from inside the arc, and D’Jone Davis in goal for St George’s College, had no chance.
With that, his 11th goal of the season, McKenzie and company seemed content with the lead and dropped deep into their quarters where they were defiant in keeping their North Street-based opponents at bay and seal the historic feat.
For Neville “Bertis” Bell, his team was somewhat a shadow of itself when compared to their Champions Cup showing. Still, he took heart from their accomplishments this season when compared to last season, which ironically also ended with quarterfinal defeat to Mona High.
“It is always tough to lose any game, whether it is a semi-final or not, but we just didn’t do enough. But I am very proud of these kids, we did one better than last year, last year we ended fifth…never made the semi-final or the Champions Cup, so hopefully next year we will do even better. But congrats to Mona, they worked hard, and I wish them and the other finalist good luck,” Bell said.
Jamaica College remains on course to defend their ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup title, as they joined Mona High in the quarterfinal round following victories in their respective second-leg Round of 16 fixtures at Ashenheim Stadium on Wednesday.
The Old Hope Road-based boys, who held a 3-0 lead over Eltham High at the end of the first leg, again made light work of the opponents in a 3-1 scoreline for a 6-1 aggregate win.
Jamaica College got their goals from Amarlie King (36th), Jayd Johnson (37th) and Jabarie Howell (61st), while Jevaughn Grant (54th) got Eltham’s consolation.
Earlier in the curtain-raiser of the double-header, Mona High hammered Jonathan Grant 6-1 on the day for a 10-1 aggregate scoreline, as they too enjoy good form heading into the quarterfinal.
In the feature contest, Jamaica College were always favoured to make good on their first leg advantage, and they could have opened the scoring in the fifth minute had Johnson got a better touch on Howell’s weighted cross into the area.
They did however make amends six minutes past the half-hour mark in a delightful combination play. This, as Dylan John’s weighted cross was played down by Howell for King to fire home his seventh goal of the season from deep inside the 18-yard box.
Before Eltham could catch their collective breaths, they found themselves two-goals down when Johnson got on the end of, and finished off a rebound after Jamoy Dennis’s initial effort from a distance was kept out by goalkeeper Joshua Aitcheson.
With the score unchanged at the break, the “Dark Blues” came out slow on the resumption and that allowed Grant pulled one back for Eltham as Raul Renton in goal for Jamaica College was hesitant in coming to collect the ball.
But the St Catherine-based team’s joy was short-lived as Howell’s well-struck right-footer from a distance burst through the grasp of Aitcheson and restored Jamaica College’s two-goal cushion which lasted to the final whistle.
Winning coach Davion Ferguson expressed pleasure with his team’s effort despite conceding a goal.
“I think we are somewhat disappointed in conceding that goal, we set ourselves a record and so we never wanted to give up that goal. Nevertheless, I think they played well, credit must be given to Eltham I think came here with a very good game plan, but our boys were patient and they eventually found ways to score goals so credit to them,” Ferguson said in his post-game interview.
Eltham’s assistant coach Glenville Holmes believes his youthful bunch gave as much as was expected.
“The truth is Eltham has nothing to be ashamed of. We played the defending champions which was always going to be a tough fixture, but I think the guys did their best and I am super proud of them. They are a very young bunch, they are under 15 years old, and I think in time, they will represent Eltham very well,” Holmes reasoned.
Wednesday's results
Mona 6, Jonathan Grant 1 (10-1 aggregate)
Kingston College 4, Campion College 1 (7-3 aggregate)
Jamaica College 3, Eltham 1 (6-1 aggregate)
St George’s College 3, St Jago 0 (5-0 aggregate)
St Catherine 3, Wolmer’s Boys 1 (4-1 aggregate)
Haile Selassie 1, Tivoli High 1 (1-1 aggregate)
Hydel 3, Excelsior 1 (3-1 aggregate)
STATHS 7, Kingston Technical 0 (11-0 aggregate)
Defending champions Duhaney Park Red Sharks face Washington Boulevard Bulls, the latter in their first decider in the Jamaica Rugby League National Club Championship Grand Final on Saturday, September 17 at the University of West Indies Mona Bowl (kick-off 4 pm, local time).
The Bulls, who joined the NCC in 2017, beat Jamaica Defence Force Warriors 24-18 in their semi-final, whilst the Red Sharks qualified for their sixth straight championship tie - and 14th in the last 16 years – by beating West Kingston Hyenas, 54-6.
The Warriors and Hyenas meet as part of a Grand Final double-header to contest third place (kick-off 2 pm, local time), both games will be played at the UWI Mona Bowl.
Bulls Head Coach Derone Davis said of reaching the final: “Our first half was poor but we got it together in the second 40. Our forwards are usually our strength and gave us momentum but our back line stood up, especially defensively. Overall, I am proud of the team. For the finals, we hope we can put together a more complete performance as we will have to be at our best to challenge the champions.”
Adrian Brown with two tries and two goals led the way for Duhaney in their triumph.
“The semis was about getting our combinations right as we are still looking for the perfect game,” said Head Coach Roy Calvert. “The finals will be exciting, we are going for victory and are confident of achieving it but know we need to play a certain way to win. Bulls are a good team and have been on our heels all season.”
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