Defending champions Kingston College (KC) and Jamaica College (JC) marched into the semi-finals of the ISSA/FLOW Walker Cup knockout competition, but more importantly booked their spots in the rich FLOW Super Cup tournament.

Playing in front of a packed Stadium East facility yesterday, KC edged their North Street neighbours St George’s College 2-1 in extra time, while JC whipped St Catherine High 3-1 in the curtain-raiser.

In the lone Walker Cup quarter-final match at the Constant Spring Field, St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) also booked their FLOW Super Cup spot after defeating Holy Trinity High 4-3 on penalties after battling to a 1-1 draw in full and extra time.

The fourth Walker Cup semi-finalist and Corporate Area FLOW Super Cup representative will be decided today when Bridgeport High and Calabar High meet at Constant Spring at 2:30 pm.

KC will meet STATHS in the Walker Cup semi-finals on Saturday, while JC await the winner of the Bridgeport/Calabar encounter.

In the feature encounter at the Stadium East field, KC and St George’s College were involved in a typical enthralling derby, which could have gone either way.

It was also a tense affair as the St George’s College line-up included two players who made the switch from KC to the other side of North Street in the summer in national Under-17 defender Jordan Petrekin and striker Jahmal Pusey.

KC, despite their dominance and clear superiority, had to battle hard for victory, and in the end were deserved winners, having created more opportunities.

Being the most successful schools in the Walker Cup, with nine titles each, one had to go home, and it was St George’s College, the winners of the first edition in 1961.

The “Famed Purples” got the perfect start when Captain Javain Brown powered in a header in the ninth minute from a short corner. But the “Light Blues” pulled level when Ackeem Robotham fired home from close range after a defender mis-kicked in the 21st minute.

But 15-year-old Dwayne “Busy” Atkinson found the winner for KC in the first period of extra time, with a glancing header that hit the upright on its way in the 98th minute.

Winning coach, Ludlow Bernard, said his team showed resilience and found a way to win despite not playing well.

“It was always going to be a difficult game; our North Street neighbours are solid characters and it took their effort to get the best out of us,” said Bernard.

“Although we weren’t having our best game today, a lot of resolve was shown which is going to be needed in order to win championships,” he noted.

St George’s College, who defeated KC twice in pre-season games, lost when it mattered most, but Coach Neville Bell was left with nothing but praise of his young team.

“I am very proud of the George’s team, they played really hard and I thought they played really well, but the Kingston College team is a high-quality team; I congratulate them. They have done really well all season, and they still haven’t lost, this is our second loss,” said Bell.

“This is football; you win some and you lose some. We had one in the first half that I thought should have gone in and it didn’t go in. They got almost the same exact thing for their second goal and it went in,” he pointed out.

“I am glad we were able to give them such a good fight and now start to think about St Andrew Technical,” Bell added.

Meanwhile, in the curtain raiser, JC made light work of an injury hit St Catherine outfit and waltzed into the semi-final yet again.

Tyreke McGee scored a scorcher of a goal with a powerful strike from 25 metres in the 42nd minute before Saqlaun Waul made it 2-0, firing home in the 51st minute. Milton Walford sealed victory beating the goalkeeper at his near post in the 72nd.

St Catherine scored a consolation goal with the last kick of the game as Captain Maleke Miller converted a penalty in 90th+3 minute.

Winning coach Miguel Coley liked how his charges lifted their game following their 0-2 defeat to KC in the Manning Cup last Saturday.

“We really passed the ball around, and in the first half they sat back and gave us some space to play on the counter, and that really gave us some confidence, especially coming off a loss,” said Coley.

“We missed some goals, but that’s something we have to work on, because in the semi-finals and finals you have to take them,” he noted.