Haile Selassie looking to extend stay in Manning Cup

Haile Selassie High’s return to schoolboy football has been positive, encouraging and successful. The Linval Dixon-coached team will hope that it is not brief as they look for a quarterfinal berth. To do that they will have to get past Excelsior High in their ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup second-leg knockout round tie this afternoon at 3:15, the second game in the Stadium East doubleheader.

Haile Selassie take a slim 1-0 lead from their first-leg encounter in a season that has seen them flourish after a year away because of complications resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. While it was a slow start to their return to the Manning Cup, they have been doing well after a group stage campaign which saw them accumulate 21 points and score 14 goals in 10 games. It has also seen them concede only four goals in the competition so far, including Tuesday’s knockout round. Jamaica College, with three, have conceded the fewest goals in the competition so far.

For the Xavier Gilbert-coached Excelsior, it is a tie that is still in the balance with a team that has now conceded only seven goals in 11 games in the competition. Haile Selassie would be venturing into new territory with a quarterfinal berth but it is a place that Excelsior now expects to be having made it in the last two seasons.

Meanwhile, the first game of the doubleheader is also delicately poised as Charlie Smith High and Campion College will clash in the early game at 1 p.m. The first leg finished in a 1-1 draw with Charlie Smith’s assistant coach Byron Earle lamenting the lack of discipline that led to the 49th minute equaliser by Campion’s Kai Myles, something that he hopes doesn’t repeat itself in the second leg.

“We have to stay disciplined. We have to stay focused. We know what is at stake. If we want to play Walker Cup or the Manning Cup quarterfinals, we have to stay disciplined,” Earle said after the game on Tuesday.

The quarterfinals are also a place where Charlie Smith also expects to be, having made the last eight in the last three seasons. For Campion College it would be uncharted territory in a season where they have already made history for themselves in their first second-round appearance in 30 years. However, assistant coach Eric Rademakers said that the team is now more ambitious and wants to go further.

“The boys set that goal to make the second round. They have reached there but we move on and we set new goals for ourselves. So let’s see how far we can reach,” Rademakers challenged after Tuesday’s first leg. Many-time champions St George’s College who defeated Jonathan Grant 4-1 in the first leg will hope to finish the job in the second leg at Winchester Park while Mona play Tivoli at Jamaica College with a 2-0 lead from the first leg.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com

Today’s games

Charlie Smith vs Campion College – 1 p.m. – Stadium East (1-1 on aggregate)

Excelsior vs Haile Selassie – 3:15 p.m at Stadium East (0-1 on aggregate)

Mona High vs Tivoli High at Jamaica College – 3 p.m. (2-0 on aggregate)

St George’s College vs Jonathan Grant – 3 p.m. at Winchester Park (4-1 on aggregate)