A brace by Hakim Williams propelled St George’s College to a 2-0 win over Denham Town High School in Group C of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Flow Manning Cup competition yesterday.

It was not their best performance, but Williams’ strike in the 13th and 75th minutes ensured that St George’s College maintained a perfect start in the group. The Neville Bell-coached team continues to lead the group on six points, ahead of Innswood High and Ardenne High who were 1-0 winners over Eltham.

It was end-to-end play in what was an action-packed first half, as both teams gave as good as they got in front of a large turnout at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex. But it was St George’s who grabbed the early ascendancy when Williams rose above Denham Town’s custodian Andrew Brown to put away a well-weighted corner kick from Alex Marshall.

However, that was all the success the North Street-based team would have in the half, as they seemingly missed the goalscoring prowess of striker Gregory Messam Jr who was ruled out with an injury.

Denham Town created a few good chances of their own, but were lacking composure in the attacking third. Their best chance of the half came from the penalty spot, courtesy of a Paul Young Jr handball inside the area, but John Wilson guessed right to deny Rushane Facey.

The hosts came out more positive at the resumption, but like it was in the first half, they failed in their bid to breach St George’s defensive line. St George’s, led by Marshall, gathered momentum and thought they would have gone further ahead when the nippy player was brought down inside the area, but the appeal for a penalty was waved off.

The ‘Light Blues’ continued to apply consistent pressure and eventually extended the lead when Williams, in similar fashion, once again got on the end of Marshall’s corner kick. That conversion turned out to be the knockout punch as Denham Town failed to respond and continued to absorb the pressure.

St George’s College pressed for a third, but it was not to be, thanks to a brilliant reflex save by Brown to deny substitute Akeem Shelton, who drove a powerful shot from outside the 18-yard box.

Over in Group B, a brace by Ricardo Phipps spurred Haile Selassie to a 4-0 win over Cumberland, with Greater Portmore scoring a 2-0 win over leaders Dunoon Technical, while Hydel High bounced back with a 1-0 win over Papine.

Meanwhile, Vauxhall assumed pole position in Group F with a 2-0 win over Excelsior High, while Jonathan Grant got by Ascot 3-1. Norman Manley remain in contention as they clipped Spanish Town 1-0 in the other group fixture.