St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) and Wolmer’s Boys’ School kicked off their ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup quarter-final on a winning note, as they registered contrasting 4-0 and 3-2 results over Excelsior High and Camperdown High in their respective group contests at National Stadium yesterday.

A brace from Shemar Daley (60th and 77th) and one each from Warner Brown (10th) and substitute Rusean McFaquhar (62nd) secured three points and an early lead for STATHS in Group B.

Wolmer’s Boys’ through a brace from Revaldo Mitchell (25th and 78th) and one from Ronaldo Webster (21st) took pole position in Group A, as they held off a gusty Camperdown unit, who roared back through Shaqueil Bradford (60th) and Tivelle Edwards (63rd), after going two goals down.

Meanwhile, defending champions Kingston College will battle Charlie Smith in the other Group A fixture at 2:00 pm today, while St George’s College and Jamaica College will meet in the Group B contest at 4:00 pm at the same venue.

In yesterday’s curtain-raiser, STATHS turned what was expected to be a close contest into a lopsided affair with a clinical display against an Excelsior team that had nothing going for them on the day.

It took the Phillip Williams-coached STATHS little time to find their footing, as Brown fired them in front with just 10 minutes on the clock.

The scoreline remained unchanged at the break, but any hopes Excelsior had of coming back were dashed on the resumption.

On the hour mark, Daley grabbed his first and his team’s second, slipping by a lone defender before tucking past custodian Pepetto Smith.

Two minutes later, McFaquhar slammed home a delightful right-footed effort from outside the 18-yard box that left Smith with no chance at a save.

STATHS continued to assert their authority and so it came as no surprise when Daley added another, charging in to slot in a rebound after Smith found Andre Morris’s right-footed drive from a distance too hot to handle.

If the moderate crowd inside the Grandstand thought that was exciting, they were in for a treat as the mouth-watering feature lived up to its billing.

Much had been said about this Camperdown unit that strode through the first and second rounds of the competition.

Despite facing their toughest task to date, Camperdown started out well, showing good attacking prowess as they forced Wolmer’s deep into their half inside the first 15 minutes.

However, Wolmer’s hit twice in quick succession against the run of play when Webster climbed well to head home a weighted free kick from Mitchell.

Four minutes later, Mitchell broke away from Camperdown’s defence and easily fired past the advancing DeShawn White in goal to put the Heroes’ Circle team 2-0 up at the break.

With the scoreline as it was at that point, it was left to be seen how much fight and character the Christopher Bender-coached Camperdown side possessed and they responded with aplomb.

The team, based off Winward Road, came out pressing on the resumption and inevitably pulled one back on the hour mark when Bradford fired home from a melee.

And they were back on level terms three minutes later as Denzel Smith in goal for Wolmer’s failed to get down in time to stop Edwards’s right-footed drive from just outside the 18-yard box.

Having shifted momentum in their favour, many thought Camperdown would have pressed on to victory, but Wolmer’s again came up trumps when it mattered most.

Though Camperdown possess a good attacking unit, there were some questions surrounding the strength of their defensive line and those were answered when Orlando Russell showed nippy footwork to slip by three defenders on his way into the danger area where he unselfishly played a pass across the face of goal for Mitchell to easily tap in.

Camperdown had one last chance at goal five minutes from time, but Smith, diving to his left, did well to get a hand on Bradford’s effort from a distance to make the points safe for the maroon and gold-clad side from Heroes’ Circle.

Yesterday’s results

STATHS 4, Excelsior 0

Wolmer’s Boys’ 3, Camperdown 2

Today’s games

2:00 pm — Charlie Smith vs Kingston College @ National Stadium

4:00 pm — St George’s College vs Jamaica College @ National Stadium