First blood - KC, Wolmer’s take control of Manning Cup second-round fixtures

Defending champions Kingston College (KC) had to work hard to fend off a stubborn challenge from the pesky Vauxhall High, however, the famed purples came away with a 3-1 win in their first leg second-round Manning Cup encounter at the Stadium East Field yesterday.

Having to wait almost two weeks to get their campaign back on track, KC looked a shadow of themselves in the opening stanza against the disciplined Vauxhall home unit.

In fact, it was the Windward road-based institution that took the shock lead in the 17th minute when Kemar Britton curled a left-footed free-kick from some 20 yards out past Herneal Nelson in the KC goal.

The halftime team talk from coach Ludlow Bernard seemed to have ignited the North Street-based aggregation as they were back on level-pegging four minutes after the resumption.

Substitute Demario McCarthy did some nifty work down the right side, and his cross was headed towards goal by Dwayne Atkinson, only to see the ball come off a defender and lob into the net, to the delight of the many KC fans in attendance.

Following the goal, the Purples then started to look like the unbeaten team that topped Group ‘G’ with 30 goals as they went ahead in the 71st minute.

Livewire Jamari Morrison was on hand to tap home from close range after goalkeeper Stephen Brightly had initially saved Tyrese Williams’ left-sided shot.

Vauxhall on the backfoot

With the stuffing knocked out of them following that goal, Vauxhall would ultimately concede the third goal three minutes later as Dwayne Atkinson outpaced his marker and slotted home from inside the area to notch his 11th goal of the season.

Winning coach Ludlow Bernard lamented what was initially a slow start from the Purples.

“We took a while to get into the game, however, we showed true grit and determination to get back into the contest and showed our true quality, said,” Bernard.

Meanwhile, Vauxhall’s Keon Broderick believes his team put up a good fight against the more superior KC team.

“I thought we started well. We kept them off the ball for most of the first half and we got a goal, but we lost concentration in the second half and conceded some goals, but we will come back and fight in the second leg,” mentioned Broderick.

Meanwhile, the second game of the doubleheader saw Group ‘D’ winners Camperdown High playing to a nil-all draw with Group ‘A’ runners up Holy Trinity High.

In other second-round games, Eltham High played to a 2-2 draw with St Andrew Technical, who needed a late equaliser to take something from the game, while Wolmer’s Boys edged St Catherine High 1-0 in the Spanish Town Prison Oval double-header.

In today’s fixtures, St Jago will face Charlie Smith, also at the Spanish Town Prison Oval at 1:00 p.m., with Hydel and Jamaica College clashing at 3:00 p.m. at the same venue.

Mona High will tackle St George’s College at Stadium East at 2:00 p.m. before Excelsior and Jonathan Grant get going at 4:00 p.m.

Yesterday’s Results:

Eltham 2-2 STATHS

Vauxhall 1-3 Kingston College

St Catherine 0-1 Wolmer’s

Holy Trinity 0-0 Camperdown

Today’s Games:

St Jago vs Charlie Smith

Hydel vs Jamaica College

Mona vs St George’s College

Excelsior vs Jonathan Grant