St Catherine top South Central Under-13 league

Richard Bryan, Gleaner Writer

St Catherine retained the Juici Patties South Central Confed Under-13 league after spanking St Elizabeth 6-0 in the final game of the parish round robin series held at Prison Oval on Wednesday.

Chris Anthony Williams led the rout scoring a hat-trick, with one each coming from the boots of Darel Green, Travis Williams and Shakille Dixon.

The win and tournament victory for St Catherine represent a remarkable turnaround in form, which saw four victories on the trot. Earlier, their title hopes were seriously questioned after they got a mere point after two games, a period during which Clarendon who finished second and Manchester looked like going all the way. Defending champions for both the Under-15 and Under-13s, they began the latter at Brooks Park with a 1-0 loss to Clarendon, before drawing 2-2 at home with Manchester.

Lost twice

Despite being brushed aside in the Under-15s, where they lost twice to Clarendon and Manchester and once to St Elizabeth, the St Catherine Under-13s began an incredible sequence with a 1-0 away win over St Elizabeth, 3-0 home win over Clarendon, a 3-0 away win over Manchester before Wednesday's demolition job at home.

President of St Catherine FA, Peter Reid, attempted to explain his Under-13 side's amazing rise as well as the Under-15s alarming and unexpected demise.

"With the Under-13s, it was a case of them taking some time to gel. The first game we lost was by a penalty, and in the game we drew we led 2-0, but I must commend the coach (Patrick Lewis) for the work he did to build back the fighting spirit. We have a lot of talent in this unit.

"As it relates to the Under-15s, it was a brand new unit but I must confess we were having a bit of a problem as it relates to indiscipline."

St Catherine's mid-season surge in the Under-13s was a contrast to competition involving the other three parishes. Clarendon finished with eight points, ahead of St Elizabeth, seven, and Manchester six. Manchester and Clarendon drew 1-1 in their final game at Brooks Park on Wednesday.