JC start second round with Norman Manley thumping
Published:Thursday | October 27, 2022 | 12:11 AM
Orane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
LAST YEAR’S beaten ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup finalists, Jamaica College (JC), maintained their unbeaten run this season, easily dispatching Norman Manley High School in the first leg of their second-round tie at Calabar High School yesterday.
JC head coach Davion Ferguson wasn’t overly excited about the scoreline, labelling the day’s performance a “good effort”.
“It was a good performance. Once we got the early goal, we kind of went into a lull, so we had to make a few changes in the first half because we wanted to shake things up a little bit. I think we got that wake-up call, and, as the game progressed, we played a lot better,” said Ferguson.
The ‘Dark Blues’ of Hope Road, who scored the most goals in the first round of the competition (54) while conceding the least (three), opened their account in the fifth minute because of sloppy defending as the dangerous Maquan Aldridge pounced on a loose ball and slotted home from close range.
J’Havier Lynch, who was an ever-present threat in the box, doubled the score in the 40th minute, following a breakaway and a calm finish.
Three minutes later, Michael Graham’s brilliant strike from outside of the box made it three. In the 60th minute, Dyllan John would make it four before a hard, low strike from Jahmarly Bennett in the 78th minute added insult to Norman Manley’s injuries.
Ferguson has stopped counting his team’s unbeaten run at this stage, knowing full well, any slips at this stage would be disastrous.
“At this stage of the competition, if you lose, you’re out. We have to keep on winning from here on in. We could have controlled the game a little bit more as we were slow in terms of passing the ball around,” Ferguson added.
Despite the heavy defeat, Shane Gage, head coach of Norman Manley, who qualified for the second round as one of the best third-placed teams, is proud of the effort.
“With all things we have to give God thanks. It’s not the best result but we are grateful. The boys showed heart and they fought until the final whistle. We started the game too slow because we showed a little too much respect to the JC team, but, at different times in the game, we showed what we were capable of doing and I’m just proud of my boys.
“It’s basically a young team and we are starting our programme all over. So the fact that we progressed to the second round speaks to the quality of the players and speaks to the ongoing programme at Norman Manley,” said Gage.
Yesterday’s Results
STATHS 2–1 St Jago
St Catherine 1-0 Wolmer’s
Kingston College 0–0 Jose Marti
Jose Marti 0-0 Kingston College