CATHERINE HALL, St James — Clarendon College retained their ISSA/W ata daCosta Cup title yesterday after beating Dinthill Technical 3-0 in the final at Montego Bay Sports Complex, etching their names on the cup for a ninth time.

Clarendon College weathered a first-half rally by Dinthill Technical where they were put on the back foot for long periods, but dominated the second half and were rewarded with goals from the towering Earl Simpson, Andre Nicholson and Tajhay Williams as they won back-to-back titles for the second time and first time in 41 years.

The Lenworth Hyde-coached team were in their third-straight final and were winning the daCosta Cup for the third time in the last six seasons.

It was another bitter loss for Dinthill Technical, who lost to Clarendon College in the semi-final last year and were in the last four for the fifth time in the last six years, but have nothing to show since they won their second title in 1981.

Similar to last year’s meeting between the two teams, the end of the game was marred by angry confrontations between the players after Clarendon College’s Sheldon Smart was floored by what is reported to have been a headbutt by a Dinthill player.

Last year Dinthill Technical ended the game with 10 players.

Hyde, the Clarendon coach, said he was happy with the win and said the quality of his team took them through at the end.

“We started the season slowly… but if we stick to our system we will always win,” he said.

Dinthill Coach Xavier Gilbert said while 3-0 did not really reflect the balance of the game, it was indiscipline that led to his team’s downfall.

“We had our good moments in the game, but credit must be given to Clarendon College [because] they will beat you if you give them space to run at you,” he noted.

After soaking up pressure at the start of the game, Dinthill came into their own and took over the game for long periods, but it was Clarendon that had the better chances to score.

It was all Clarendon in the second half as they came out more purposeful and could have taken the lead in the 53rd minute when Hill and one of his defenders collided going for a ball which just trickled past the left upright before a Clarendon player could get to it.

Simpson put his team in the lead two minutes later with a powerful header from a left side-cross and Nicholson, who replaced Jaland Larman, doubled the advantage in the 81st when he gobbled up a ball that a defender failed to clear on the right side of the box and rocketed it back past the goalkeeper into the far corner of the goal.

Williams got the third goal in time added on when Chambers set him up with a ball on the top of the 18-yard box and he powered it high into the goal past Hill.