CATHERINE HALL, St James — DaCosta Cup campaigners Glenmuir High and St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) came from behind to beat their Manning Cup counterparts Kingston College and Charlie Smith High, respectively, in a dramatic start to the ISSA/Flow Super Cup with a triple-header at the Montego Bay Sports Complex yesterday.

On a day when all 16 teams (eight each from Manning and daCosta Cups) competed, the corporate area Manning Cup gained the advantage with five teams advancing.

Glenmuir High kept up their unbeaten run all season, coming from two goals down after 10 minutes to beat Kingston College in their first season playing in the Super Cup competition. David Givans, substitute Leroy Bryant, and Chase Myrie scored for Glenmuir after Nathan Jones and Rashawn McKinson had given Kingston College the lead.

In the second game that started in pelting rain, STETHS conceded an early goal, but then ran away from Charlie Smith for a decisive 4-1 win that ran the Manning Cup team into the ground.

Charlie Smith scored on the first attack of the game when Alton Lewis headed past goalkeeper Sandre Ferguson in the fifth minute. STETHS levelled five minutes later through Romeo Wright, while Travar McCollough gave them the lead in the 35th minute, setting the foundation for a dominant second half, where Shawn Genus and Michael Kerr both got on the scoresheet.

Omar Wedderburn, the STETHS coach, told the Jamaica Observer they were always comfortable, even while having to come from behind. “We just kept our head and played at our pace, as we knew the game would come back to us,” he said.

Charlie Smith were off to a flying start as after sustaining a torrid start from STETHS, Lewis met a cross from the left and headed it into the goal at the far right post.

It did not take long for STETHS to respond, as the short but powerfully built Wright sped through the defence and powered the ball past goalkeeper Okeino Mendez in the 10th minute.

McCollough gave STETHS the lead when his sublime free kick from just outside the 18-yard box on the left, curled into the top far corner of the goal, beating the flailing arms of Mendez. Genus added a third in the 52nd minute before Kerr made it 4-1 in the 61st as STETHS ran away with the easy victory.

It was bright sunshine at the start of the first game, however, and Kingston College made hay as they raced into a 2-0 lead after just 10 minutes. Glenmuir High, however, steadied their ship and slowly clawed their way back and scored two decisive second-half goals in a one-minute span to knock the fight out of the Kingston College team.

Warren Simpson, the assistant coach for Glenmuir, told the Observer he was not worried when they went down. “No, we were not daunted at all, it was still early in the game, and we worked them out and realised they would not be able to maintain the high press game too long.” Simpson added: “We have depth, and we brought on Leroy Bryant and he paid dividends for us.”

A minute after Dashawn Donaldson had missed from about three yards out, Jones gave Kingston College the lead in the fifth minute when he curled a low left-footer past the left hand of Paul Beckford in the Glenmuir goal. Five minutes later an inadvertent handball gave Kingston College a penalty and McKinson buried the spot kick.

Givans pulled one back for Glenmuir in the 31st minute when he got past two defenders and beat goalkeeper Akim Larmond to his near left post. Kingston College had early chances to restore their two-goal advantage, but on both occasions Donaldson wasted the chances, and this gave Glenmuir the space they needed.

Bryant, who had come on in the 41st minute, levelled the scores with a header from just on top of the six-yard box and a minute later Glenmuir had the lead for good when Myrie snuck into the melee and headed the ball home from point-blank range after the Kingston College defenders missed two chances to clear the ball away.