A late strike from Tiffany Gayle propelled Denham Town to a 1-0 win over St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) in their Group H second-round game in the 2018 ISSA/Locker Room Sports High Schoolgirls Football competition at Boys’ Town on Friday.

Gayle, from 25 yards out, powered a right-footed shot into the right top corner of STETHS goal in the 77th minute to ensure her team picked up valuable points in search of a semi-final berth.

With the win, Denham Town remained on top of the group on six points, having defeated Mile Gully 4-0 in their opening encounter in the second round last Wednesday, while STETHS, who drew 1-1 with Ardenne High in their first game also last Wednesday, are third with just a point.

In the other group game, hosts Ardenne defeated Mile Gully 2-0 to move to second place on four points and left their opponents at the bottom of the table without a point.

Winning coach Kimathi-Nkrumah Makonnen said that he was pleased with the overall performance of his team.

“To be honest, it was a very tough game as STETHS played really well throughout the entire match. They drew their last game, 1-1, while we got three points and this game we needed to win and we did.

“It was a late goal, but nonetheless it is three points and I am really proud of the girls as they did what was asked of them in the second half, and defensively, I think they did exactly what they needed to in the entire game,” Makonnen told the Jamaica Observer.

His opposite number Omar Wedderburn was also pleased with his team’s effort.

“I think we played a tactical defensive game today. I think that the last kick of the game was a beautiful strike by the Denham Town striker and I am pleased with how these girls came to town and played for the first time. They gave a good account of themselves and I really appreciated their performances. I saw positive signs to go into the future with these girls,” he said.

As the game progressed Denham Town began to look the better of the two teams, but their attacking unit failed on many occasions to ignite any sparks. The closest Denham Town came to open the scoring was when national representative and captain Kersha Thomas took a thunderous free-kick just outside of the box, but her national teammate Shereece Young was equal to the task in goal for STETHS with just half-hour on the clock.

After playing out 0-0 at the break, Denham Town could have opened the scoring earlier as 20 minutes on the resumption, Moel Reid got a through pass with a clear chance with just the goalkeeper to beat, but Young was not fooled by Reid’s fancy footwork and proved equal to the task to deny Denham Town the breakthrough.

However, Gayle received a rebound shot and roofed her shot into STETHS’s net to seal the win for her team in what was a very competitive game from start to finish.

In other games, Camperdown (three points) lost 0-1 at home to Lacovia (three points) and St Jago (six points) beat Mount Alvernia (zero point) in Group G action.

In Group I, defending champions Excelsior lost 0-4 to Lennon. The other game between Montego Bay and Greater Portmore wasn’t play.

— Ruddy Allen