Eltham, Charlie victorious

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Eltham and Charlie Smith High improved their stocks of qualifying for the semi-finals of the ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel Manning Cup urban area schoolboy football competition, after recording 1-0 and 2-0 wins, over Waterford and St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS), respectively, in second round action at the Spanish Town Prison Oval yesterday.

Eltham, who are more renowned for their successful exploits in ISSA cricket competitions, got the better of the much-touted Waterford, courtesy of a 75th strike from midfielder Dwayne Williams.

Charlie Smith got their victory on a penalty from outstanding midfielder, Javoni Simms, in the 33rd minute, and Reshaun Reynolds three minutes later.

Two different halves

"It was a game of two different halves. We started slowly, but after we got into our own we played some good football and got the goals. We then eased back in the second half and held on for the win," said Charlie Smith coach, Jerome Waite.

The result propelled Eltham, who drew 1-1 with STATHS in their first game of the round-robin play-offs, to the top of Group One with four points, one more than Charlie Smith, who lost 1-0 to Waterford in their opener. The latter also have three points.

The winners of the second round's three groups, plus the best second-placed team, will advance to the semi-finals.

"It was a gritty Eltham High performance," said Eltham's assistant coach, Granville Holmes.

"Our future and season depended on us getting a positive result and the players rose to the occasion."

"The team did not play bad, we were just unfortunate to get a red card which affected the team," said Waterford coach, Lloyd Coke. "We, however, are not too concerned as we have STATHS in our last game and we are confident that we can get the desired result."

Today's matches

Kingston College vs Jamaica College at Constant Spring - 1 p.m.

St. George's College vs Bridgeport at Constant Spring - 3 p.m.