FORMER CHAMPIONS Jamaica College (JC) carved out a hard-fought 2-0 victory over a very plucky Camperdown in their ISSA/WATA Manning Cup Zone C encounter at Alpha Boys yesterday.
JC, who were recording their third straight victory from as many matches, were led to victory, courtesy of goals from Tevin Savage in the 35th minute and Keshaun-Lee Chin in the 80th. JC, one of the favourites to win this year’s title, are now tied atop the standings with nine points, along with St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) and Vauxhall.
Raymond Watson, one of JC’s coaches, praised his team’s effort despite the challenges of the match.
“It was a workmanlike performance from us because, as I told my team, not every game is going to be smooth sailing for us,” said Watson.
“The field was kind of bumpy, so some of our passes were not connecting. But we had control of the game because I think that we had about 70 or 80 per cent of the ball possession. Camperdown sat in a deep block and tried to play us on the counter, but we had to grind it out.
“It is always good to get three points because this is also our third straight victory, and especially with quality teams in the group. We have two top teams in the group in Vauxhall and St Andrew Technical, but we are hoping that we can get some points off them whenever we face them in the group.”
In the group’s other games, Vauxhall defeated Edith Dalton James 4-2, while STATHS thrashed Spanish Town 11-0.
Meanwhile, defending champions Kingston College (KC) hammered José Martí 8-1 at the Stadium East field to register their fourth straight win this season.
KC were led to victory, courtesy of three goals each from Tyreek Robinson and Shareef Ricketts, while Dashawn Byfield added two.
Despite the big win, KC’s head coach Vassell Reynolds admitted he was not completely satisfied.
“We were expected to win and win big but there are certain habits that we are trying to cultivate in the players for the more challenging games, and I am kind of disappointed with some of what we saw, but we did some reshuffling in this game and some aspects of it we were pleased with it.
“I think we should have dominated the game some more, and we were wasteful in front of goal. So some of those things we need to refocus on and continue to work hard at, going forward,” he added.
Yesterday’s results
JC 2-0 Camperdown
STATHS 11-0 Spanish Town
Kingston College 8-1 José Martí
St Jago 2-0 Bridgeport
St George’s College 2-0 Hydel
Vauxhall 4-2 Edith Dalton James
Penwood 6-0 Innswood
St Catherine 1-0 Campion College
Hillel 7-1 Pembroke
Mona 4-2 Wolmer’s
