Champions Jamaica College returned to winning ways as they joined Hydel High in registering convincing victories in their respective Group I contests in second-round action of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/FLOW Manning Cup competition yesterday.

Jamaica College blanked Denham Town 6-0 in the feature game of the double-header, after Hydel thrashed St Jago by a similar scoreline in the curtain-raiser at Constant Spring Field.

A brace from Captain Oquin Robinson in the 20th and 65th minutes, Norman Campbell (23rd), Ronaldo Brown (45th+1), Duhaney Williams (56th), and substitute Orlando Brown (73rd) got the job done for the Old Hope Road-based team.

Besides a speculative shot way over the cross bar by Kashief Smith shortly after kick-off, Denham Town were denied any decent looks at goal for the remainder of the game, as Jamaica College went rampant, scoring three goals in either half.

Robinson broke the deadlock from the 12-yard spot after referee Derron Davey awarded a penalty against Kemarley Balls, who, in the course of taking evasive action, handled the ball inside the area.

The score was doubled three minutes later when Campbell fired a left-footed shot past custodian Brian Bennett from deep inside the area after the defensive unit failed to clear its lines.

And after camping out in their opponents’ quarters for a lengthy period, Jamaica College eventually extended the lead through Brown, who once again capitalised on sloppy defending to fire home from the top of the box to make it 3-0 at the break.

Things fared even worse for the demoralised Denham Town unit 11 minutes on the resumption when Williams calmly tapped the ball over the head of the advancing Bennett, after being supplied with a well-timed pass by Javoy Belnavis.

Robinson returned to complete a brace nine minutes later, firing home from close range, after which Orlando Brown made an impact three minutes after being inserted when he outpaced two defenders before calmly rolling the ball through the legs of a hapless Bennett to cap off the impressive performance.

Winning coach Miguel Coley felt it was important for his team to recover from Saturday’s FLOW Super Cup defeat and he was pleased with the commanding display.

“Yeah, this was definitely a good win; Saturday’s loss was a tough one [as] we really didn’t want to exit the FLOW Super Cup at that juncture but as champions it was very important that we bounce back and today [and] that is exactly what we did,” Coley told the Jamaica Observer in a post-game interview.

His counterpart Omar Edwards lamented what he considered a soft penalty which dented the spirit of his team.

“This was not the type of result we wanted, but after the penalty the team really didn’t recover from it and it was really a soft penalty that got JC going, but overall it is a young team and it is a work in progress, so we just have to continue to work hard,” Edwards noted.

Meanwhile, in the curtain raiser Hydel stamped their class over St Jago once and for all, as the two renewed their rivalry for the third time this season. Their previous first-round meetings ended with a 1-0 victory for Hydel, while the other ended in a stalemate.

However, a timid-looking St Jago failed to come to the party in yesterday’s one-sided affair and were rightly given the harsh treatment.

Goals by Nicholas Nelson (22nd), Courton Wright (40th), substitutes Fakibi Farquharson (89th) and Mowaine Meredith (90th) and Kevin Wright (90th+3), along with a 53rd-minute own goal by Jelani Thomas completed the rout.

Nelson, a former National Under-17 representative, opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Wright was brought down inside the area. The latter returned to add his name to the scoresheet when he struck a sweet left-footed shot from the edge of the 18-yard box to put Hydel 2-0 up at the break.

The struggling St Jago slipped further behind on the resumption when Brad Tulley’s shot from outside the penalty area took a wicked deflection off defender Thomas and sailed past the hapless Akeem Chambers, but referee Wilverglen Lamey ruled it as an own goal.

This signalled the opening of the flood gates as the next three goals came in quick succession in the latter stages of the contest, with a beautifully struck shot from about 30 yards out by substitute Farquharson in the 89th leading the way.

Meredith, who was inserted shortly after Farquharson, got in on the act a minute later when he shook off a defender down the left channel before driving home a left-footed shot which left Chambers no chance in goal.

And Wright rubbed salt in the wounds of their opponents when he fired home from just outside the box in time added.

Today’s schedule

Group J

Kingston College vs St Andrew Technical @ Constant Spring Field @ 1:00 pm

Bridgeport vs Charlie Smith @ Constant Spring Field @ 3:00 pm

Bridgeport vs Charlie Smith @ Constant Spring Field @ 3:00 pm