Excelsior High and St Catherine High consolidated their positions atop Groups Two and Four after registering contrasting performances against Jonathan Grant and Jamaica College, respectively, on the final day of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup Round of 16 encounters on Saturday.
Excelsior High registered a commanding 5-1 win over Jonathan Grant to finish at the summit of Group Two with maximum nine points.
They will be joined in the quarterfinal by Tivoli Gardens, who ended second with four points and a slightly better goal difference ahead of Eltham (four points) after they played out a lively 2-2 stalemate in the other group fixture.
Over in Group Four, St Catherine’s 1-1 stalemate with former champions Jamaica College saw them top the group with seven points, two points ahead of their Old Hope Road-based opponents, who ended with five points to also progress to the quarterfinal.
Calabar ended third on four points after they defeated Charlie Smith 3-0 in a game of academic interest.
The quarterfinal groups will see Mona High, Tivoli High, Jamaica College and Kingston College crossing swords in Group A, while St Catherine, Excelsior High, Campion College and Hydel are set to do battle in Group B.
Meanwhile, all other teams that failed to progress from the Round of 16 will contest the Walker Cup knockout competition.
Saturday’s results
St Catherine 1, Jamaica College 1
Eltham 2, Tivoli High 2
Excelsior 5, Jonathan Grant 1
Calabar 3, Charlie Smith 0
Despite conceding for the first time this season, last year's beaten finalist St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) extended their unbeaten run in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup with a 4-1 beating of Excelsior High in a Group D top-of-the-table clash at Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Saturday.
A brace from Leon Brown (2nd, 68th) and one each from Kalonji Watson (47th) and Andre Salmon (70th), made the points safe for the Bumper Hall-based team. Jkivann Salmon (75th) got Excelsior's consolation.
With the win, STATHS are now sole leaders of the group on 15 points, three ahead of Excelsior, who were suffering their first defeat of the season.
Winning coach Phillip Williams expressed pleasure with his team's progress so far.
"I am very happy today was a good test for my team, I think the Excelsior team is a good team and we embrace these types of games, and the boys showed their quality today. This is a more mature team, so we keep doing what we have been doing and it's paying off. We have another shot to win the title this year and we will give it our best try," he said in a post-match interview.
It was a frantic start by STATHS, as Brown picked up a loose ball and worked his way around two defenders before unleashing a stinging left-footer from the top of the 18-yard box that gave Jadavin Waul, in goal for Excelsior, no chance at a save.
Though STATHS bossed possession from there and had a few chances from which they could have converted, Excelsior were not without hope and did play their game but found the Bumper Hall team's defence in defiant mode.
As the score went unchanged at the break, STATHS, like they did at the start, came out spiritedly on the resumption and doubled the lead two minutes in when Watson fired home from the top of the 18-yard box, beating Waul all ends up.
They continued to apply consistent pressure and pushed even further ahead courtesy of Brown, who applied an easy finish from close range to a Dwayne Atkinson pass, moving his tally to 10 goals this season.
And before Excelsior could catch their breaths Salmon delivered another punch when he fired home while under pressure from two defenders.
However, the Mountain View Avenue-based team gave their fans something to celebrate, as Jkivann Salmon finished off a well-worked build up with a sweet right-footed strike from deep inside the 18-yard box, beating STATHS's custodian Jaheem Williams, at his near post.
Excelsior's Head coach Keon Broderick took heart from his team's performance to an extent.
"The goal we scored is evident that we have quality in the team. But credit must be given to STATHS the way they transitioned and came at us really quickly. I also thought we could have done much better defensively, but as we move on into the latter stages I think we will be much better," Broderick said.
Meanwhile, defending Walker Cup champions Tivoli High were among other winners on the day, as they moved to the top of group B thanks to a dominant 7-0 win over Cumberland. The win saw Tivoli up to 10 points from four games, one point more than defending champions Jamaica College.
Wednesday was an action-packed day of schoolboy football across the island.
In Manning Cup action, Kingston Technical recorded a clinical 3-0 win over Bridgeport at the Spanish Town Prison Oval to move back to the top of Group A with 12 points from five games, two points ahead of defending champions, Jamaica College.
Charlie Smith currently sits third in the group with nine points from their five games.
Group B may be the most exciting as there are five teams that have a chance to qualify for the quarterfinals alongside Camperdown, who have 16 points from their six games, with one match to play. Excelsior High School and Jonathan Grant both moved to 11 points from six games after defeating Jose Marti and Tivoli, respectively.
Excelsior beat Jose Marti 6-0 at Jamaica College and now sits second in the group on 11 points with a goal difference of 11 while Jonathan Grant won 1-0 over Tivoli Gardens at the Spanish Town Prison Oval to move to third on 11 points with a goal difference of three.
Tivoli is fourth in Group B with 10 points while STATHS, who scored a 6-0 win over Dunoon Technical at Stadium East on Wednesday, are fifth on nine points.
St. Jago High is sixth in the group with eight points.
Clan Carthy High beat Papine High 1-0 at Jamaica College in a battle of the two bottom teams in Group C.
Wednesday also saw the beginning of the quarterfinal round playoff fixtures for Zones C, F and G in the DaCosta Cup.
In Zone C, the doubleheader at STETHS saw Lacovia record the only win of the day with a 2-1 victory over Munro College.
STETHS and B.B Coke played out a 3-3 draw.
The top four teams in Zone C have now all played six matches with one more playoff fixture remaining.
STETHS lead Zone C with 13 points followed by Munro College with 12, Lacovia on 10. B.B. Coke has seven points.
Meanwhile, Garvey Maceo maintained their perfect record with a 4-0 win over Foga Road in their Zone F playoff fixture at Garvey Maceo.
In the other playoff fixture in Zone F at Vere, the hosts secured a 1-0 win over Old Harbour High.
Garvey Maceo and Vere have all but confirmed their progression to the quarterfinal round with 18 and 13 points, respectively, with each having one match left to play.
Old Harbour are third on seven points and Foga Road are fourth on six.
The first set of matches in the quarterfinal playoff round in Zone G saw Happy Grove get a 4-1 victory over Port Antonio High to ascend to the top of the zone on 10 points.
St. Thomas Tech had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Seaforth in the other playoff fixture in the zone and now sits second on nine points.
Port Antonio are third on seven points and Seaforth are fourth with four points.
In the regular zone matches from Wednesday; in the Zone-A double-header at William Knibb, Irwin High and St. James High emerged winners.
Irwin got by Spot Valley 3-0 while St. James beat Maldon 4-0.
All eight teams in Zone A have now played six matches with William Knibb at the top with 15 points closely followed by Cornwall College with 13 and Irwin with 12.
Irwin and Herbert Morrison both have 12 points but Irwin is ahead on goal difference.
Mannings High School remains atop of Zone B following a 4-0 win over Green Pond.
Green Island and Rusea’s High played to a 2-2 draw at Green Pond.
Frome secured a 4-0 victory over Petersfield at Llandilo Sports Complex in the other Zone B fixture.
Mannings lead the seven-team zone with 13 points from their five matches. Frome Technical, which has also played five matches is second on 12 while Petersfield currently sits third on seven.
In the Zone D double-header at Manchester High, Manchester and Christiana both got crucial wins over Bellefield High and DeCarteret College respectively.
Manchester High won 3-1 to move to 13 points from their five games with a goal difference of 23 to lead the seven-team zone.
Christiana High beat DeCarteret College 2-0 to also move to 13 points from five games, only trailing Manchester on goal difference.
Holmwood Technical is now third in Zone D with 10 points from five games after hammering Alston High 7-0 at Kirkvine in the third Zone D match on the day.
Dinthill Technical secured their spot in the quarterfinal round with a 2-0 win over St. Mary High in the first game of a Zone H double-header at Drax Hall.
Dinthill advances as the winners of Zone H with 16 points from their six games.
The second match of the double-header saw Brown’s Town secure a crucial 1-0 win over York Castle to keep alive their hopes of a quarterfinal round berth.
In the third Zone H match on the day, McGrath earned a vital 3-2 win over Ocho Rios High to set up an exciting final match-day that will determine who will join Dinthill as quarterfinalists.
Ocho Rios, Charlemont and McGrath all have eight points heading into their final matches, with Ocho Rios currently occupying second-place with a plus-eight goal difference.
Charlemont High lie third with a goal difference of +1 and McGrath are fourth with a goal difference of 0.
In daCosta Cup action on Saturday, William Knibb stayed perfect with a 5-0 win over Maldon, at home, for their fifth win in as many games.
The first game of the day at William Knibb featured Holland High and Herbert Morrison playing out a 1-1 draw.
In the other Zone A games, at Irwin High, Cornwall College got a 2-0 win over Spot Valley and Irwin beat St. James High 3-0.
William Knibb leads Zone A with 15 points followed by Cornwall College with 10 and Herbert Morrison with nine. Each team in Zone A has two matches left.
Munro College confirmed their place in the next round as Zone C winners with a 1-0 win over B.B. Coke in the first game of a doubleheader at STETHS.
The second game at STETHS saw Lacovia and Maggotty draw 2-2.
Munro will be joined in the next round by STETHS who got a 4-0 win over Mt. St. Joseph, at Kirkvine, to finish second in the zone with 10 points.
Holmwood Technical beat DeCarteret College 4-0, at Manchester High, to move to fourth in Zone D on seven points, three behind Manchester and Christiana and one behind Bellefield.
Defending champions, Clarendon College, are out of the competition as Lennon High and Edwin Allen advanced from Zone E.
Lennon topped the zone with 11 points and Edwin Allen finished second with 10, beating out Clarendon College on goal difference.
Lennon and Edwin Allen played out a 0-0 draw at Turners Field, meaning a draw would’ve been enough for Clarendon College to advance alongside Lennon.
That didn’t happen, however, as they were beaten 1-0 by Glenmuir, at Glenmuir, ending their hopes of defending their title.
Denbigh beat Claude McKay 5-1 in the other Zone E game on the day.
St. Thomas Technical and Happy Grove advanced from Zone G.
St. Thomas Technical finished as zone winners with eight points and Happy Grove finished second with five points after a 6-2 win over Port Antonio High at Lynch Park.
Happy Grove finished with the same number of points and same goal difference as Paul Bogle High but finished ahead of them on goals scored with six compared to four.
Paul Bogle drew 1-1 with Seaforth, at York Oval, in the other zone game today.
In Zone H, Ocho Rios High and Dinthill Technical both scored 3-0 wins over York Castle High and Charlemont respectively in a doubleheader at Drax Hall.
Dinthill moved to 13 points to strengthen their zone lead, while Ocho Rios and Charlemont are second and third with eight points each.
Manning Cup
In Group B Manning Cup action, Tivoli beat Dunoon Technical 4-2 and Excelsior and STATHS played out a 3-3 draw in a doubleheader at Stadium East.
At the Spanish Town Prison Oval, St. Jago secured a 1-0 win over Jose Marti while Camperdown beat Jonathan Grant 1-0.
Camperdown remain perfect at the top of Group B with 15 points with Tivoli second on 10 and Excelsior third on eight.
In Group C, St. Catherine High beat Papine 3-0 in a 3:00pm game at Jamaica College.
The win moves St. Catherine to second in Group C on seven points behind KC with nine and ahead of Mona with four.
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