Ocho Rios turn back Cedric Titus

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Second-half goals from Andrew Matthews and Ian Campbell carried Ocho Rios High to a 2-0 victory over Cedric Titus in their Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup urban area senior schoolboy match at Drax Hall in St Ann yesterday.

The win was Ocho Rios' second in three outings this season and, according to their coach, Keveral Stewart, it will lift their confidence for the remainder of the competition.

"This victory is a morale booster because it is always nice to get in winning habits," said Stewart, who represented Jamaica at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup Finals in New Zealand in 1999. "I think it will help us a lot because we can play and I believe it will add to the confidence for us going forward."

He added that he was very displeased with his team's performance, especially in the first half.

"We give thanks for the three goals, but I am not happy with our performance because I think in the first half we weren't moving the ball properly and weren't playing aggressive as we should," Stewart said.

Poor performance

Meanwhile, Wade Crawford, coach of Cedric Titus, said: "It was a poor performance from us because I think we played very badly throughout the entire game.

"We just have to go back to the drawing board and hopefully we can put on a better performance in our next game," added Crawford.

Both teams failed to create any meaningful chances in the first half, mainly due to the heavy rains that lashed sections of the islands yesterday.

However, Ocho Rios came out firing in the second half and were given the lead in the 52nd minute when Matthews fired home from point-blank range.

Campbell doubled Ocho Rios' lead six minutes later when fired home a right-sided cross from Matthews.

Yesterday's Results

Zone A: Spot Valley 1 William Knibb 1, Green Pond 4 St James 3, Muschett 1 Cornwall College 0

Zone B: Ruseas 3 Herbert Morrison 1, Frome Technical 6 Maldon 0

Zone C: Brown's Town 1 Albert Town 0, Marcus Garvey 6 York Castle 0

Zone D: Iona 1 Annotto Bay 1, St Mary Technical 5 Brimmer Vale 2, St Mary High 6 Islington 2

Zone E: Maud McLeod 2 Little London 1, Godfrey Stewart 1 Petersfield 0, Grange Hill 1 Mannings 1

Zone F: Munro 1 Lacovia 0, Decarteret 4 Maggotty 1, STETHS 8 Mile Gully 0

Zone I: Glenmuir 4 Tacius Golding 0

Zone K: Port Antonio 3 Buff Bay 0

Zone L: Robert Lighbourne 3 Paul Bogle 0

Today's Games

Zone G: Christiana vs Cross Keys at Christiana, Spaldings vs Porus at Spaldings, Manchester High vs Knox at Manchester

Zone H: Clarendon College vs Vere at Chapelton, Edwin Allen vs Claude McKay at Edwin Allen

Zone J: McGrath vs Old Harbour at McGrath, Dinthill vs Bog Walk at Dinthill