MANY-TIME champions St George’s College made a winning start to their Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Flow Manning Cup campaign as they blew away Kingston Technical 9-0 at Winchester Park yesterday.

A three-timer from Gregory Messam Jr (21st, 57th and 64th minutes) as well as a brace from Alex Marshall (90th and 90+7) propelled the former champions to the emphatic scoreline.

The other goals came from Shevon Stewart (59th), Jevoun McKellar (68th), Tyreke Harris (77th, own goal), and Stephan Gilzene (90+6).

The hapless Kingston Technical team had to finish the game with nine players after Dujuen Hayle was shown a straight red card in the 64th minute for a deliberate hand ball inside the area. Goalkeeper Keith Senior and Rushard McFarlane also left the field with injuries after exhausting their allotted three substitutions.

The ‘Light Blues’ were always favoured to claim all three points, and they gained the early ascendancy when Messam Jr finished off a good build-up from the middle of the park.

The scoreline remained the same at the break as the North Street-based unit continued their dominance for the remainder of the half and created numerous chances which they failed to capitalise on.

St George’s picked up the momentum at the resumption and went on the probe early after exhibiting their passing ability to the delight of the large crowd.

St George’s extended the lead when Messam Jr got on the end of a well-weighted cross from substitute Hakeem Williams. And they went further ahead when Stewart drove home a right-footed shot after Stephan Gilzene’s cross eluded defenders.

With Kingston Technical seemingly clueless to the consistent pressure of St George’s, Hayle tried to play a goalkeeper role and handled the ball inside the area. The lanky Messam Jr stepped up and calmly converted from the spot to add to his tally before being substituted.

And with the tempo of the game up in one half of the field, McKellar added his name to the sheet with a powerful right-footed shot from just inside the area.

Frustration took its toll on Senior, and when he held on to the ball for more than six seconds, St George’s capitalised with a quickly taken indirect freekick that was rifled into the back of the net by Harris in a desperate attempt to clear his line.

With the floodgates now opened, Marshall took advantage and netted two easy left-footed shots, after earlier assisting Gilzene to fire home from close range to complete the route.

Innswood High and Denham Town High also had a positive start to their campaign with 2-0 and 1-0 victories over Ardenne High and Eltham High, respectively, in the other Group C fixtures.

Meanwhile, Dunoon Technical assumed pole position in Group B with a 1-0 win over Haile Selassie, while Hydel High stumbled 1-1 against Greater Portmore. Cumberland High and Papine High also played to an indentical scoreline in the other group game.

Over in Group F, Excelsior were in a no-nonsense mood as they blanked Ascot High 4-0 to head the table ahead of Vauxhall High, who were 2-0 winners over Spanish Town, while Jonathan Grant edged Norman Manley 3-2.

Today’s Schedule

Group A

Calabar vs St Catherine @ Calabar

Tivoli vs Clan Carthy @ Edward Seaga Oval

Group D

Penwood vs Charlie Smith @ Cling Cling Oval

St Mary’s College vs St Andrew Technical @ Above Rocks

Group E

Kingston High vs Bridgeport @ Kingston High

St Jago vs Mona @ Prison Oval

Group G

Jose Marti vs Campion College @ Jose Marti

Camperdown vs Waterford @ The Bellevue Lands