PLAYING BEFORE one of the largest crowds this season, defending champions Garvey Maceo High School silenced the home supporters with a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Glenmuir High School in their top-of-the-table ISSA daCosta Cup Zone I clash yesterday at Glenmuir.
The win pushed Garvey Maceo to the top of the zone on 24 points, while Glenmuir finished second on 22.
In another match in the zone, Denbigh High edged Kemps Hill 1-0, thanks to a 61st-minute strike from Lashan Barnaby. The result handed Kemps Hill their first defeat of the play-offs and left them third on 19 points. Denbigh ended fourth with 17 points, missing out on a spot in the round of 32.
At Glenmuir, the home team — who had thumped Garvey Maceo 4-0 at Garvey Maceo’s home ground just a week earlier — looked on course for another win after taking a 1-0 half-time lead, courtesy of Orane Watson’s 28th-minute goal.
One minute after the restart, Watson struck again, sending the home fans into a frenzy.
But the defending champions fought back like true warriors.
Jihari Williams pulled one back in the 52nd minute, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Williams struck again in the 74th minute to level the game at 2-2, igniting celebrations among the travelling supporters.
Garvey Maceo then grabbed the winner in the 81st minute, when Rushane Whyte rose high to head home from a corner, completing the comeback and sealing the victory.
Glenmuir pressed hard in the closing stages, but Garvey Maceo’s solid defence held firm to avenge last week’s defeat.
An emotional Lester Hibbert, coach of Garvey Maceo, praised his team’s fighting spirit.
“That’s the spirit of a true champion,” said Hibbert.
“My boys were gallant today, coming to Glenmuir and beating them after a heavy loss last week.”
Hibbert credited the team’s unity and resilience.
“In our last two matches, we had several injuries and even played with 10 men against Denbigh for the majority of the game. But the boys were determined to show their worth. Winning the zone puts us in a good position for the next round with two home games coming up.”
Despite the loss, Glenmuir coach Andre Peart remained optimistic.
“It was a game of two extremes. We controlled the first half, went two goals up early in the second-half, but they got back with two set pieces. Garvey Maceo are a strong set-piece team,” said Peart.
When asked about his team’s form heading into the next round, where they have only picked up one point from their last three matches, Peart admitted there were concerns but remained confident.
“Yes, there must be concerns, but I know what we have. We’ll turn things around. There’s no need to panic.”
Over in Zone A, Maldon are through to the round of 32, while Herbert Morrison and Cambridge are out.
The road to the round of 32 begins on Saturday, and after two painful losses Zone A’s Maldon finally got it right with the 5-0 thrashing of Green Pond High at Green Pond.
Herbert Morrison provided little resistance to Cornwall College, who were comfortable at home, running out 2-0 winners.
In Zone B, Cambridge missed out on a first-time entrance to the round of 32 when leaders Rusea’s squeezed out a 2-1 victory at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay.
The result means Rusea’s end on 24 points, finishing ahead of Frome on 17 and Cambridge on 14.
Assistant head coach of Rusea’s, Jason Fiddis, said the team has a tendency to underperform against weaker opponents.
“We find ourselves knowing that we have the game, but we tend to drop our game to the lower team. Today, in the first 22 minutes, we got five chances to score and didn’t capitalise,” said Fiddis.
“Eventually, we picked up the game and started to play better football in the second half, and we saw the result,” added Fiddis.
Meanwhile, Cambridge’s coach, Garrett Dennis, acknowledged the young players’ efforts.
“These are youngsters and we would have worked hard with them to get to this level. We will maintain 80 per cent of the team next year,” Dennis said.
According to Dennis, his team also missed too many opportunities.
“We missed some chances that really cost us. We could have taken the lead but we missed a penalty, but such is life,” said Dennis.
Yesterday’s Results
Cornwall 2-0 Herbert Morrison
Irwin 2-1 St James
Green Pind 0-5 Maldon
Knockalva 1-2 Frome
Green Island 0-3 Anchovy
Cambridge 1-2 Rusea’s
Mannings 4-0 Petersfield
Little London 1-2 Black River
Mt St Joseph 1-7 Manchester
Claude McKay 0-4 Clarendon College
Glenmuir 2-3 Garvey Maceo
Kemps Hill 0-1 Denbigh
Cedric Titus PPD William Knibb
Belair PPD May Day
