Defending champions St George’s College rallied twice to beat Bridgeport High 3-2 in extra-time and in the process secured their 19th lien on the Manning Cup trophy at the National Stadium yesterday.

The competition’s MVP, Marvin Morgan, scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season in the 23rd and 64th minutes to force extra-time, before top striker McKauly Tulloch netted his 19th of the season in the 104th to give the Light Blues a deserved victory.

The second half and extra-time were played under a persistent drizzle, which made ball-handling difficult for both teams.

In first-half action, Kenrick Preston gave Bridgeport a dream start by tapping home from close range in the 19th minute.

Darren Mattocks was the creator, beating his marker down the left flank to whip in a low cross.

However, the defending champions drew level through Morgan, who slammed home a 25-metre shot in the 23rd minute.

Midfielder Jameil Hardware sent Bridgeport 2-1 up in the 48th minute. The wily player ran onto a forward pass from Mattocks and drove his low right-footer past the St George’s custodian Windell Reid at his near post.

Morgan netted his second of the match in the 64th minute with a brilliant curling shot from the top of the box. The skilful player collected the ball and turned his marker, before curling a right-footer into the top right-hand corner, giving the Bridgeport goalkeeper little chance to effect the save.

With Hardware hobbling with a foot injury sustained midway the second half of regulation time, Bridgeport adopted a defensive posture.

Persistent pressure from St George’s paid dividend in the second stanza of extra-time when an attempted cross by Tulloch on the right flank was handled by Omar Thompson in the box.

Tulloch converted the resulting penalty to the right of Bridgeport’s custodian Johnson to hand coach Neville Bell his third hold on the title and the 19th overall for St George’s College.

“We worked hard in the pre-season. We ran a lot of steps and we knew this would pay off for us,” Bell told the Sunday Observer.

“This team is a composed team because we went behind twice and we rallied and came out with the win,” Bell added.

Bridgeport’s coach Anthony Patrick, who congratulated St George’s for winning, conceded that his team made too many errors.

“I single-handedly asked a player to mark Morgan in general and he slipped him two times and scored as he just lost concentration and it cost us the game, but they are youngsters and they will make mistakes,” Patrick told the Sunday Observer.

Earlier, St Andrew Technical (STATHS) defeated Excelsior High 4-1 in the third-place play-off, courtesy of double strikes by Daniel Gilzene and Andrew Christie.