Marsh shepherds Calabar through to next round

Ryon Jones, Gleaner Writer

Calabar High marched into the second round after registering a 2-0 victory over St Catherine High in their Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Gatorade/Digicel Manning Cup Group A match yesterday at Calabar.

The winners sit atop the group on 18 points from six games, four more than second-place Excelsior, who have played one game fewer. The group is completed by St Catherine (four), Holy Trinity (four) and Greater Portmore (zero).

The 'Pied Piper' at the helm of Calabar's march was Chevonne Marsh, who netted both goals - in the ninth and 22nd minutes - to bring his tally to six in as many games.

The 17-year-old was pleased with his efforts and the team's triumph.

"It is a great feeling to have scored two goals today and give my team the three points," Marsh expressed. "The hard work we are putting in is paying off."

Marsh once again was at the centre of everything positive that his team did and his first goal was a reflection of his influence. He picked up the ball before spreading it wide and then made his way into the box to score with a side-footed finish, all along the ground.

He admitted that the expectation of the team and others does put pressure on him, but believes he has the requisite experience to handle it.

"Being the leader of the team puts a lot of pressure on me, but it is actually my third season so I know how to cope with it and just contribute to my team at the end of the day," Marsh said.

Marsh attributed Calabar's inability to add to their tally in second half to the failure to follow the coach's instructions. But head coach Marvin Tate laid blame for his team's lacklustre second half showing elsewhere.

"When you have officials who basically don't protect players you see things like this happening," Tate expressed.

He will now turn his attention to progressing to the Walker Cup KO and believes his team is capable of fending off the challenge of second-place Excelsior.

"I think we are capable of getting that first place, that's the objective that we have set, and I think we are on our way to achieving that," he stated.

St Catherine's coach Errol Wint was disappointed that his team's objective of progressing to the next round has been derailed.

"I am disappointed because our objective was to come out of the first round and see how well we could do in the second round," Wint shared. "Unfortunately, we didn't make it, so we have to just work hard and come again next year."