St George's in Manning Cup final

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

A brilliant first-half goal from Kendon Anderson carried St George's College (StGC)to a 1-0 victory over Wolmer's Boys' and a place in this year's final of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Gatorade/ Digicel Manning Cup schoolboy football competition at the Constant Sports Complex yesterday.

The diminutive Anderson scored in the 14th minute to move his tally to 22 overall for the season.

The Neville 'Bertis' Bell-coached StGC, who have their sights set on winning the Triple Crown this season, have already secured their spot in the final of the Walker Cup knockout against Kingston College.

"I am very happy with my performance," said Anderson.

"I was able to score the winning goal which puts us into the final and this is great for me and the team," noted Anderson, who represents Cavalier in the youth league.

The speedy and skilful Anderson tormented the Wolmer's defenders with his swift dribbling skills and clever off-the-ball movement.

He scored when he controlled the ball on his chest between two defenders, then turned away from both to volley home a powerful right-footed shot past custodian Amal Knight.

Close to doubling team's lead

Anderson came close to doubling his team's lead a few minutes later, when he collected a through pass from Oshane Booth inside the 18-yard box, but with Knight at his mercy, he shot wide of the target.

National Under-17 player Romario Jones should have also increased StGC's lead on the stroke of half-time, but his shot from point-blank range went high over the crossbar.

The Heroes Circle-based Wolmer's dominated the early exchanges in the second period, as they created a number of clear-cut chances, which they failed to capitalise on.

Chevon Montgomery had a clear opportunity to give Wolmer's the equaliser 10 minutes after the interval, but with StGC's goalkeeper Nico Campbell at his mercy, he fired wide of the goal.

However, StGC went on to dominate the remainder of the game, but they failed to capitalise on a number of easy chances.

"I am happy with our performance," said Bell. "It was a tough game and we expected it, and so I am not surprised Wolmer's played the way they did."

Bell added: "We are very happy to be in two finals, but we haven't won anything yet and so the work will continue."

Ludlow Bernard, the coach of Wolmer's, said: "I am disappointed with the result but not the boys' performance.

"We played against a very good team today and we gave it everything we got, but we came up short," said Bernard.